10/9: Samarkand, Uzbekistan's Bibi Khanum Mosque & Mausoleum, Siob Bazaar & Hazrat Khizr Mosque

A few minutes walk from the remarkable Registan that was likely the most beautiful spot in all of Central Asia, was the Bibi Khanum Mosque. It was there that Timur, the 14th century warlord, "made his true bid for architectural immortality, a monumental building planned on a hitherto unseen scale" as described in one guidebook. The biggest mosque in Samarkand was built by the order of Timur for his most beloved wife, Bibi Khanum, who was related to Genghis Khan.

Financed from the spoils of recent campaign to Delhi in 1398 and built with the labor of 95 imported Indian elephants, the huge 116 ft. tall entry arch was flanked by 165 ft. tall minarets that led into a courtyard paved with marble and also flanked by two mosques. But it was built in such haste that the walls began crumbling almost as soon as they were finished. Reportedly, Timur himself threw gold coins and scraps of barbecued meat to encourage workers!

As splendid as the minarets were, I tried without fail to imagine them as they were in the past, three times taller than today!

Local folklore tells how the architect fell in love with Bibi Khanum and stole a kiss. To escape Timur's wrath, he jumped from the minaret, sprouted wings and flew to Mecca. Another tale is that the architect, after falling madly in love with Timur's wife, would not complete the construction until he had a kiss. Timur executed the architect and decreed that henceforth all women would wear the veil. What a love story!

The cobalt blue tiled dome was as magnificent as those we'd seen yesterday at the Registan. Steven and I were just incredulous at how centuries ago such exquisite work was done at exceedingly high heights.

In the 14th century, Timur brought the Osman Koran, named after the 7th century caliph who complied it in Medina in the present day Saudi Arabia, to Samarkand so it could be displayed on the central marble lectern of the Bibi Khanun Mosque. After the Tsarists took the city in 1868, the world's oldest Koran was removed to St. Petersburg. In 1989, at the height of perestroika and after being moved to other locations, it was eventually handed over to Islamic clerics in Tashkent where we were fortunate enough to view it as you may remember reading from a previous post. 

Nearby, we could see an old man praying as he faced the lectern.

If it had been warmer, the peaceful place would have been a lovely place to sit awhile and ponder Timur's creation. 

However, it was rather shocking to see this mosque complex, comprised of two smaller mosques and one great mosque, in such a state of disrepair. There was grass growing on the top of the beautiful domes, and the great mosque was nearly falling apart as you can see from the photos I was able to take through the lattice work.

How sad that the Uzbek government has yet to restore this site considering the hefty admission charges at each of the religious monuments in Samarkand and the other cities we'd just visited in Uzbekistan. 

It was interesting to compare the photographs before reconstruction and marvel what has been done. Yet there was still so much to be done at Bibi Khanum unlike the other religious monuments in Samarkand. 

There was only one completed dome. I couldn't quite decide whether the mostly white interior was a 'shining blandness' as one person described it or starkly beautiful in its simplicity. I will leave it for you to decide and to add your comments at the end of this post. 

Directly across from the mosque was the Bibi Khanum Mausoleum that was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. I was surprised we were the only visitors there for fifteen minutes. 

In the center of the mausoleum was a wide open area with the crypt visible below. There were several graves but I don't know whom they belonged to.

Local women still come to the mausoleum to pray although it was now considered a museum rather than a place of worship.

Views looking up from the crypt:

I took this picture standing in the doorway of the Bibi Khanum Mausoleum looking over at Steven and behind him at the mosque of the same name. 

Next to the mosque and mausoleum was the Siob Bazaar, one of the oldest bazaars in Samarkand and the center of the citizens' public life through the ages. It now consisted of a two-story covered airy, modern food market and was famous for selling local produce like fresh and dried fruits, nuts, sweets and spices. The bazaar had one of the best spots in the world, so close to amazing mosques, tombs and mausoleums - talk about location, location, location!

There was little wonder why so many older Uzbeks had a mouthful of gold teeth seeing all these sweets!

If you have read a number of my previous posts, you would also be surprised seeing the huge spaces between the stalls compared to pictures of the other markets we had visited in Central Asia. 

If you're vegetarian, the Siob Bazaar would have been perfect with all its legumes to choose from!

Care for cheese anyone?

Steven was just about to comment the market looked pretty small when I pointed out the market continued below and also well beyond the market building!

It was unusual seeing so many different types of baskets being sold at the market. 

It was distressing that while wandering around the bazaar about six women with babes in tow came up to ask to take their photo so that I would then pay them. It had been very rare to see beggars in the other Uzbekistan cities of Tashkent, Nukus, Khiva and Bukhara we'd traveled to first.

It took us a while to figure out what all these women were interested in buying here as the product looked so different from anything we'd seen before.

On closer inspection and taste (I shared some raisins of mine with a vendor who didn't seem to like mine either!), I realized these were raisins but they were the driest raisins I've ever had and I'm a big raisin fan. I would think they needed to be reconstituted in water before they could be eaten, they were so dry.

There were pomegranates for sale galore. I was more interested in taking pictures of the vendors, though, than buying a lot of the produce.

More of the only in Samarkand nan bread we'd tried once and wouldn't again unless we wanted to use them to lift weights as they were so heavy!

The catfish section!

Another thing that was unique about the Siob Bazaar was that it had cobblers and not just one or two but at least ten, I think.

Like all bazaars in Uzbekistan we appreciated there was no pressure to buy and that bargaining was expected. The market was modern and not a place for history lovers, but it was a 'must visit' for those like us who like to get a feel of the local culture. Surprisingly, we saw no other obvious foreigners there that day. There was far more to the market but we had other places to see so put off discovering more until a later time.

We made our way next to Hazrat Khizr Mosque, one of the most venerated spiritual sites of Samarkand, that was located on a hill that gave it a gorgeous panoramic view of the legendary city with its architectural jewels of the blue domes and patterned minarets of the Registan. Built in the 8th century, it was the first mosque constructed in Samarkand following the Arab conquest of the region. The mosque was located in the city gates, through which caravans following the Silk Road entered the city. Hazrat Khizr was one of the most revered mystical figures in Islam and described as a prophet or a saint. 

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Hazrat Khizr Mosque was destroyed during the Mongol invasion. It was rebuilt in 1854 on its ancient foundations by Samarkand artisans and the mosque’s terrace and entrance gates were built in 1899. The Hazrat Khizr mosque is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. 

I got the impression that very few foreigners and especially female ones visit this mosque so I think I was a bit of a novelty to these women. 

The ceiling decoration reminded us of the similar colors and designs used at the Dungan Mosque in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan, earlier in the trip. 

Islom Karimov, the first and much beloved president of Uzbekistan, was buried near the Hazrat Khizr Mosque on September 3, 2016. His grave was a huge attraction to the Muslim faithful at the complex.

There was prayer space after prayer space in the huge complex with imams praying loudly to and with their followers in each one. We had to make sure to get up and move quickly after some prayers were finished and before others began to see more of Hazrat Khizr!

Since we'd had a busy morning, we spent some time just relaxing in one of the gazebos reflecting on all that we'd seen so far in smashing Samarkand and looking forward to visiting even more. 

Next post: Later that day we visited Samarkand's other great artistic highlight, the Shah-i-Zindah necropolis and the Afrosiab ruins.

Posted on November 3rd, 2018, from Lourdes, France.