Monuments to visit Central Asia

Opposite the entrance to the caravanserai is the harem of Tash Khauli, the «stone palace», which until recently also served as an entrance to the palace. After a few works, it is again accessible by its usual entrance, in a left lane just after the Madrasas Mourad Inak. The Citadel in the heart of the inner city, Tash Khauli, was built from 1831 to 1841. Behind the high walls, the Khan was built this new palace with a courtroom, administrative buildings, the royal apartments and a harem. Nurmuhamad Tadjikhan, the hapless architect who signed this magnificent book, had a rare but frequent spell in his profession. He had the insolence to tell the episode that it was impossible to finish the palace in two years; in retaliation, the khan decided to make him impaling. His successor probably promised to be quicker, but he did eight years to complete the book. Artisans craftsmen were renowned for the quality of their majolica decorations and their work in wood; the iwan of the harem, as well as those of the judging hall and the courtroom, are the best illustration of their perfect mastery. From 1841 onwards, the "stone palace" became the main residence of the Khan of Uzs.

The harem. Its five simple column iwan overlook a long courtyard lined with a thread of summer and winter apartments. Five iwan, one for the khan and the other four for each of his women… The figure made many generations of tourists dream, but it is very classical and does not take into consideration captives that stayed in bulk in the courtyard of the courtyard, nor the occasional rights of cuissage against which the last episode, Asfandiar Khan. The apartments of the Khan and its women all have the same architecture: a high iwan open to the northeast, to avoid the setbacks sun rays of the summer months, and a small adjoining piece expected to keep a tolerable temperature during the winter months. The slaves and family members of the kidnapped women lived in the pieces and the small iwan lining the inner courtyard. The ensemble was decorated by the best craftsmen at the time, the talent of which none of the construction seems to have escaped: neither the grill windows of the winter parts nor the finely carved wooden columns nor the wooden walls of the ceiling painted ceilings. The walls of the iwan, entirely decorated with blue and white majolica, are due to the master craftsman Abdullah Djinn who also carried out the Ark mosque. The resemblance of style is obviously striking, but the proportions are more important here. Once again, the walls of the iwan are painted with cold colours, while the ceilings have warm colours. The majolica patterns of the five iwan are all different. At the bottom of the harem opens a room at the ceiling supported by ten columns of wood; it houses the Craft Museum. To access the public part of the palace where the courtroom, the throne hall and the court are located, the ruelle and the ruelle passe between the harem and the Madrasas Mourad Inak. The door is a little further on the right.

The courtroom and the court. Right by entering the palace, a corridor leads to the courtroom, or ishrat khauli. The black wagon exposed to the bottom of the corridor is a present of Nicolas II to his eastern vassal, the last episode of Uzs, Asfandiar Khan. He suffered from a shameful disease and his doctor, who had to hold his head, would have told him that the only way to treat himself was to eat pucelle… He used to move in the city in this carriage, that the inhabitants had called "black death". The courtroom is a square courtyard nestled in the south of a iwan in a column as admirable as those of the harem, always the work of Abdullah Djinn, the genius of the Décoration Makhmoud mausoleum. Two locations for yurts enabled guests to receive the guests in winter. Passing through a maze of corridors leads to the courtroom, or arz khauli. And for those who did not admire the majoliques of the harem of the harem or the reception room, those of the khauli khauli offer a breathtaking catch-up session. The court had two exits, one for acquitted and one for convicts. The khan sometimes received in a quartile placed on a brick elevation in the middle of the courtyard. At the bottom of the courtyard, a small door leads to dark galleries where exposed doors and columns are displayed in several monuments of Uzs.

In the west, the Madrasas Mourad Inak was built between 1804 and 1812 under the reign of Koutloug Mourad Inak, by the grandfather of Allah Kouli Khan. The episode Koutloug Mourad Inak wanted to be buried in his madrasas, but death surprised him while he was in Dichan Kala, the outer city. The law prohibiting the death of a death in the inner city, Allah Khan found an end to this problem of «borders» by tearing down the walls of the city which separated the madrasas from the outside city. There was no objection to the khan being buried in the vestibule of his madrasas. It was the first madrasas of Uzs to have two floors of cells. Another particularity is built on another madrasas dating from 1688: The Madrasas Khodjamberdibi which, during the new construction, was built and renamed Khourdjoum. He was taken away from the domes and the portal, and then moved into his surroundings. It is now a terrace in the Portail Mourad Inak Portail. The arches of the cells are visible in the front of the grande. The large underground sink located in the courtyard fed the entire inner city with pure water. Today the children have cleared the tickets that the pilgrims have thrown there and no one drinks more of their water. In the season, a puppeteer offers a small show to tourists for whom some benches were placed in the courtyard.

The Madrasas Allah Khan was built in 1834 against that of Koutloug Mourad Inak, forming the traditional couple of madrasahs madrasahs. One of the largest in the city, it hosted the library of Uzs. At that time, Allah Kouli Khan wanted to completely reorganise the city's entrance. He broke the enclosure of the inner city and built a whole range of commercial and religious buildings, moving the centre of the city close to the palace Tash Khauli. The new ensemble included a huge caravanserai, a tim (covered market), baths as well as a madrasas and mosque. Caravanserai was transformed into a supermarket by the Soviets. A curiosity! It overlooks a tim to 14 domes. A gallery with 6 domes crosses the Madrasas Allah Khan and leads to Palvan Darvosa, the East Door, which opens onto the outside city and the bazaar. The madrasas Allah Kouli Khan really only has a wonderful portal of deep blue. Inside, around a rectangular courtyard of 30 square meters, the cells spread over two floors, as in the Madrasas Mourad Inak.

Located east of the mosque on Friday, Madrasas Abdullah Khan was built in honour of the 17-year-old Khan, who died fighting Turkmen after a short reign of five months. The madrasas hosts a museum of natural history and each of its cells is set around a theme: cotton, silk, fruit… The museum also has a rich collection of stuffed animals, including birds and reptiles. A few curiosities of the amateurs, like a two-body sheep!

Facing madrasas, Ak's Mosque, 1838, was built on foundations dating back to the mid th century, contemporary Anusha Khan baths, located right next to and in service. The small mosque flanked by a mini minaret is marked by iwan on three sides. It is closed to visits.

Just before you reach the East door, the left leads to a place where two madrasahs are faced.

Always going east and on the right side of the street. From the outside, nothing, or almost anything, can predict the grandiose character of the Friday mosque. The monotony of a long blind wall is interrupted by a huge door with two doors, finely worked wooden, a 33 m tall minaret dominates the whole. The interior is more than surprising: a forest of carved wood columns supports the ceiling of the mosque. Each pillar seems to have its history, one of the most famous being the one from India. Its decoration is abstract, as Islam wants, but it is clear from human representation. By taking the time to study the various ornamentations, we can discover the Zoroastrians symbols, the Buddha's representations, etc. The rich pilgrims or merchants coming into business at Uzs offered the mosque a carved column in the style of their city, replacing another too old column. The oldest, about, date from the th and th centuries. In total, the mosque has 213 columns, all of different ages and motifs. Some, sometimes from other buildings, had to be rallongées or shortened. They are based on a carved marble base, ensuring stability and protecting them from soil moisture. The architecture of the Juma mosque corresponds to the archaic style of the first mosques that were places of assembly. It commented on the Koran, but it also discussed other issues relating to the organisation of the social life of believers. The mihrab is placed in the centre of the immense 55 m long room and 45 m wide. Light penetrates through two octagonal openings breakthroughs in the ceiling. As a result of recent and rather unfortunate restoration, the glass openings were sealed and replaced with lamps.

At the entrance to the palace, on the other side of the square, lies the madrasas of the poet lion, known as Firuz. The immense portail portal overlooks a first courtyard surrounded by a cell floor, a space for merchants who today houses shops of artisans and souvenir shops. The construction follows the traditional square plan but is characterized by a voûte of 8 domes, the largest of Uzs. Through a second portal, the first courtyard leads to the intérieur interior, which houses a museum dedicated to Ferouz, and an exhibition relating to khanate during the th century. In the second court, a family of équilibristes offers small shows.

Back to the main street, on the right after the madrasas Matniyoz Divanbeg transformed into a restaurant of the Hotel Uzs, you arrive at the mausoleum Sayyid Alla Uddin of the th century. It is the oldest monument of Uzs. A mausoleum with dome and portal was built in the early 1303 th century around the tomb of Sheikh Sufi Said Alauddin died in. A ziatkhona, a small piece by which one accesses the tomb, was assistant under Allah Kouli Khan in the th century. The tomb covered with majolica on blue and white plant grounds is the work of Amir Kulal, a Ceramist ceramist who would have buried at the side of the Sheikh but who died in Bukhara and stayed there. Despite the presence of two graves, one body rests in the tomb.

By leaving the Mausoleum and continuing towards the east, the Madrasas Kozi Kalon (1905) is home to a museum of music dedicated to artists of the Khorezm, such as singer Olmakhon Khaiotova.

The old fortress opens its doors on the west side of the central square. The site of the fortified palace was inhabited in the th century. For more than a millennium, several palaces were periodically destroyed and rebuilt in the same place. The oldest still standing construction is the Ak Baron Bobo Tower, dating from the th century. In the th century, Arang Khan, the son of Anusha Khan, built around the ruins of this fortified tower a throne hall and the walls protecting the palace from the outside and inside the city. The whole was destroyed in the th century. It was under Altuzar Khan, the founder of the Kungrad dynasty at the beginning of the th century, that the construction of the current palace began. The official residence of the//included several inner courtyards where the mosque, the guard, the chancery, the throne Hall, or Kurinish Khana, the Mint and the Harem. The empty space behind the large doors of the palace once included different inner courtyards. In the first, visitors were antichambre, in the second one held custody, and then came the chancery. On the right of this great courtyard, now deserted but in the course of restoration, is the Summer Mosque (1838). Its immense iwan with six columns with walls covered with blue majolica is of breathtaking beauty: epoxy tiles with plant arabesques and geometric drawings made by renowned master craftsmen of the th century, Abdullah and Ibadulla Djinn. The Mint, located at the bottom of the inner courtyard, is now transformed into a museum. In the th century, working in finance at Uzs had only a distant relationship with the life of a "golden boy." In order for their knowledge to be scattered, those who attacked the pieces were prisoners in the old citadel, leaving only after their death. It was in the second inner courtyard, Kurinish Khana, built in 1804, that the khan received his subjects from high walls. The throne hall itself consists of a long empty room with high ceilings. The silver-leaf throne, which was in the large niche of the coin, has unfortunately been «emigrated» in Russia, and the Uzbek authorities are trying to repatriate it. Carved and gilded gantch (wood) decorate the walls and ceiling is also richly decorated with polychrome geometric motifs. The two-column iwan, open to the north to enjoy cooler winds during warm months, is decorated with cold colours made with cobalt powder for blue or copper for green. The ceiling is, in contrast, decorated with warm, yellow and red colours, symboles symbols of the sun and fire. The sun or stars, often symbolized on ceilings, enshrine the tide as an intermediary between earth and heaven, thus God. Wooden doors and columns are completely carved. Their champagne and excavated base allowed them to be mounted on their marble or wood bases, by isolating the stone wood with camel wool to the properties, as they were, resistant. The bases of the two columns of the iwan are in engraved marble; on one of the two blocks one can read a poem by the historian Khivite Agekhi. The yurt in which the khan liked to receive some of his hosts in winter was about the rise of bricks in the middle of the courtyard. Some claim that this iwan was the harem, but the women's apartments were actually in the northern part of Kounia Ark. They were built at the end of the th century by Muhamad Rakhim Khan II and are unfortunately closed to the public. From the interior of Kounia Ark, one accesses through a little staircase at Ak-Sheikh-Bobo, «the tower of the white Sheikh», built in the th century and thus named in memory of the Sheikh who lived there in the fourteenth. Both a royal residence, a tower of custody and a watchtower, it offers a panoramic view from its iwan on the floor. Look at all the monuments of Ichan Kala and, to the west, part of Dichan Kala.

Built in 1851, under the reign of the Khan Amin, it was one of the largest madrasahs in Central Asia, with a square courtyard of 38 m side for a building measuring a total of 72 m out of 60. A construction in the image of the khan, the most illustrious leader of Uzs: he conquered Merv and imposed his law on the Belliqueux Belliqueux before dying mourir during a battle on the Iranian border, leaving Uzs to the nomadic attacks for the following decades. The impressive building maintained that, to put it in place, a part of fortification walls was destroyed. The one hundred and twenty-five cells spread over two levels received two hundred and sixty students until 1924. The tympans of the high portal and the two floors of cells in the facade are decorated with blue majolica motifs. The construction of madrasas offered Soviet historians an illustration of the struggle of classes under litigants. After two years of exhausting work, the workers who, of course, did not receive any money, would révoltèrent: most of them were peasants, they could no longer take care of their fields and the famine hazardous. The revolt was suppressed with khivienne: Matiakoub, the leader of the rebellion, was wrapped in a moist and buried beast living under the foundations of the minaret. The recent history of madrasas is not necessarily more cheerful, since the Soviets made a prison in the 1930 s and 1940 s. Today the madrasas has become the Hotel Uzs and can accommodate a hundred tourists.

The visit of the Oulough Begh observatory may seem to be one of the most disappointing in Samarkand. Unfortunately, it is so little to be seen from this famous observatory that some'will break ', which would be a mistake, because the only view of the underground part of the giant sextant is worth visiting: a 11 m arc lined with marble parapets where the degrees are indicated. Long lost in memory, the location of the observatory was rediscovered at the beginning of the century by Viatkine, a master of archaeology buff, whose tomb we can see at the entrance to the site. Oulough Begh was a scholar, both poet and mathematician, considered one of the greatest astronomers of his time. While the telescopes were still unknown, he wrote an astronomical catalogue where the coordinates of more than 1 000 stars were recorded. He knew the cycle of rotation of planet Saturn as well as the duration of the stellar year with less than one minute error. But his son, allied to religious fanatics, ended his work by murdering her in 1449. Not happy to remove the man of science, who dared to discuss God's existence with his students, the fanatics destroyed his achievements and, above all, the most disrespectful: the observatory which housed the world's largest sextant: 90 °, while the usual sextants are 60 °.

The circular shaped building, 45 m high, had three levels whose walls decorated with frescos were telling the heavens and the solar system. Descriptions of the time bitterly regret their destruction. A small museum at the entrance to the site recounts the life of the principal scientists and poets of the timurid era as well as that of the most famous astronomers. To get there, take one of the buses that goes back the road from Tashkent, at the exit of the market, in front of the Khazret Khriz mosque, and get off at the statue of Oulough Begh.

The square courtyard of the Abd-i-Daroun ensemble is a haven of peace for prayer, and for the rest of the tourist exhausted by heat and kilometres. In the centre of the courtyard, in the shadow of a few hundred-century trees, a basin reflects the mausoleum, the cells of the khanaka welcoming the pilgrims, and the iwan of the summer mosque. The mausoleum of the Sultan selçuk Sanjar was built on the tomb of the tomb of the th century Abd-al Mazzeddin. The Pyramid roof hall is the oldest part and dates back to the th century, the prayer room dates back to the time of Oulough Begh. The façade is decorated with geometric motifs, blending blue bricks and blue glazed bricks. The khanaka also dates from the time of Oulough Begh. The summer mosque with its iwan to the ceilings decorated with geometric and floral motifs dates back to the end of the th and has returned to a place of worship. Very beautiful and ancient tombstones stone tombstones are gathered near the wall at the entrance to the cemetery. The Abd-i-Daroun ensemble is often confused with the Abd-i-Biroun mausoleum at the exit of the city. " Daroun "means inside - implying the walls of the city - and" biroun "outside. It is reported that Abd-al Mazzedin was a man of man, a ascetic who served as a judge of the inner city. His father, Abd-i-Biroun, who sat in the lobby, at the entrance to the room where his son was lazlo, was buried outside the city.

For the traveller arriving by car from Tashkent, Bibi Khanum's immense blue dome behind the compact and colourful crowd is one of the first images of Samarkand la. It was in 1399, when he returned from his campaign in India where his troops had set fire and blood to the temples of Zoroastrians and Hindus Infidels, that Timur decided to build the Masjid-i-Jami mosque, known today as Bibi Khanum, daughter of the Emperor of China and favored wife of Timur. The best architects and artisans from the Khorassan, Azerbaijan and India were attelèrent to the construction of what was to be the largest mosque in Central Asia. The best location of the capital and Timur laid the first stone on the best day, the fourth day of Ramadan 801 (10 May 1399). Ninety-five elephants, which Timur had brought back from his conquests in Indouhistan, were fighters huge blocks of stone needed for construction. According to Cherif Id Din, there were four hundred blocks of five metres height! Entrusting to the supervision of the grandiose project to his most loyal collaborators, Timur left for new conquests in Asia Minor, and returned to Samarkand only in July 1404. The versions differ as to the sequence of history. According to Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Ambassador of Castilian and end observer to Samarkand in August 1404, Timur's first wife was actually named Cano. She was daughter of Chiacao, emperor of Samarkand province and former king of Persia and Damascus, and it was in honour of Cano's mother that the mosque had been built. Clavijo tells how, upon his return from Asia Minor, Timur judged the portal too low and destroyed it then rebuilt. The workers who would be arriving day and night were treated fairly badly. To those who worked in the pits, meat was thrown like dogs, sometimes adding coins so that they continued their hard work. According to the historian Sharaf ad-Din, when he returned in 1404, Timur entered a black fury because Bibi Khanum, who was to be a woman of head, had built a madrasas and a mausoleum for herself just in front of the mosque. As subsequently shown by archaeological excavations, Tamerlane's fury was perhaps due to the fact that the portail portal had not been constructed in parallel with that of the mosque. Whatever was the real reason for the wrath of the Emir of Iron, the legend grabbed it and tells the following story: While Timur guerroyait away from his land, Bibi Khanum decided to make a surprise by erecting the highest mosque ever built. She supervised the work herself and fervently wanted them to be completed for the return of her husband. Asked to hurry, the architect ends up pulling her a kiss in exchange for his promise to finish the work on time. The kiss, though given through the hand, was so hot and so hot that Bibi Khanum still wore a mark on her cheek when returned her husband's emperor. He offusqua more from the sashimi than he is happy with the huge mosque. He entered a mad fury and ordered his soldiers to seize the architect, but the traitor went on top of one of the minarets and flew to Persia forever. Bibi Khanum was rushed from the top of another minaret, and Timur gave the order that in his empire all women wore the veil so that their faces no longer tried men when the husbands were in war.

In its construction, the complex consisted of four marble paved galleries, covered by 400 domes and supported by 400 columns of marble which surrounded a huge inner courtyard of 130 m on 102 m. Two 50 m high minarets were located on each side of the entrance gate, up to 35 m high, as well as the portal of the large prayer hall up to 40 m. each outside of the court. In the north and south, two smaller mosques, each adorned with a dome perched on a luxuriously decorated cylindrical drum, looked at the centre of the courtyard where, on a marble stand, Osman's Koran: the second largest Koran of Islam, dating from the th century, that Timur was reborn from Damascus. It is said that the surahs were written in such a large character that the imams could read them from the top of the colonnade. It is also said that, barely finished, the mosque already began to degrade. The precipitation of architects was probably for something and the earthquakes, one of which had its epicenter at the very center of the mosque, did the rest. In 1868, Russian shells were endommagèrent the great dome of the mosque. Armin Vambery, the faux dervish that was able to visit Samarkand five years earlier, in 1863, described a monument that was already very damaged and which served as a garage for service carriages linking Kokand to Karchi. Ten years later, Eugene Schuyller, an American diplomat, also went to Samarkand and described the courtyard of the mosque, transformed into cotton markets, but in the centre of the inner courtyard, the great marble stand on which the Koran Osman was asked was still there. He also brought together popular belief that to heal back pain, it was necessary to crawl between the nine short and thick pillars that supported stand. Another superstition wanted the sterile women to come to glisser in the morning to be able to procréer. Even today, we can see women crawling between these pillars… conservators have worked for more than forty years to rebuild the mosque to gradually restore its original forms. The three domes appeared, but those of the North and south mosques already lost their blue ceramic decorations. Since April 2003, the entrance gate, which was once masked by tangles of scaffolding, is again visible, and the two flanking minarets have also been restored. We better appreciate the quality of the architecture that plunges the visitor directly into the courtyard by three degraded monuments in the portal. During the course of the work, it was possible to climb at the top of the minarets with a slight bachshish to the workers. It seems that the rise is now banned. In the courtyard, the interior of the East Dome still retains some paintings and ceramics of origin but the restoration works began during our passage and should be completed at the time of the publication of this guide. And it is to be feared that the latest frescoes disappear under the rolls of paint. The large cracks circulating around the other buildings around the central court give an idea of the scale of the work that has been carried out at the entrance gate, which remains to be carried out here. It will take ten years of work to restore interior decorations, recreate the colonnade and complete the ornaments of the entrance portal. Ten years to say again about the Bibi Khanum mosque: " His dome would be unique if there were the heavens, and unique would be its portal if there were the Milky Way. '»»»»

Sixty years ago, the Registan was the heart of Samarkand, and a compact and colourful crowd is competing around the numerous shops that proventriculus the madrasahs. The tireless Swiss traveller, Ella Maillard, had the opportunity, during his visit to Samarkand in 1932, to stay in the madrasas Tilla Kari, whose cells then hosted visitors to the. The Madrasas Shir Dor, for her part, served as a place of detention for basmatchi - Muslims opposed to Soviet Power - awaiting execution. Here, like around the Gour Emir, the houses were demolished to make clear. One might think of the decor of a deserted theatre: the huge three and beautiful Madrasahs Begh Begh, Shir Dor and Tilla Kari have a large empty square and on the fourth side, a little in retreat, are the seats that greet visitors during their lighting and light shows. In the th century, the six major arteries that left the city gates crossed at this location, on a vast place of sand, literally: . Not that the sand tapissât the whole place, but it was thrown in abundance to absorb the blood paid during the public executions. Timur wanted to facilitate trade and encourage merchants, who were paying heavy taxes, to come to Samarkand. He built a street lined with shops that crossed the city apart and a huge bazaar. Continuing his work, his wife, Tuman Aka, built a tim, a large covered market for domes. During the reign of Oulough Begh, at the beginning of the th century, the Registan became the official place for Samarkand. His new status was accompanied by a great deal of work, cutting the market to domes and building a madrasas, khanaka, caravanserai and mosque. It was on this square that public executions and all official demonstrations were held. It was also a strategic place and, at the end of the th century, the Ennemis volcanic ennemis, Babur, the last of the Timourids, had installed its staff at the top of madrasas of Oulough Begh, the real centre of the city.

In the th century, Samarkand was under the authority of the Bukhara khanate and lost the status of capital conferred on it by Timur. The monuments of the Registan, neglected, slowly fall into ruins. In the th century the governor of Samarkand, Yalangouch Bakhadour, gave prominence to his current aspect by building two new madrasahs on the location of caravanserai and khanaka. A painting of Vereshagin, a famous Russian painter, gives an image of the atmosphere in the late th century. In a work soberly called Tarjestélévisionouiout, one can see a crowd gathered in front of Madrasas Dor, admiring a dozen high pickets adorned with heads planted at their top. The restoration work started in the early th century closed and repaired the outrages of time and earthquakes. Today a new danger threatens these monuments: the remontées of the water table beset the bottom of their walls, and the remontées of water le the mâché paper which supports the decorations. Since the restoration, new seismic shocks have caused cracks that widen year in and year out, and regularly, scaffolding and metal tubes strengthen the structure of threatened monuments. Conservators will have to face new work so that the "place of sand" never deserves its name and, in fact, work takes place almost every day to ensure the survival of the monument. For the time being, the Registan remains the largest and most elegant architectural ensemble in the Islamic world and, according to Georges Curzon at the end of the th century, the entire world, «as no site, no Western city has on three sides of first-order Gothic cathedrals».

La Oulough Begh. The Madrasas Oulough Begh is the oldest of the three. Built between 1417 and 1420, it is recognisable to its northern minaret, slightly inclined, as if it were to support the sky, a role assigned to these two giant 33 m high minarets which flanking the portal and never greeted imams. The guides like to tell how, during the restoration, Russians tried unsuccessfully to rotate the minaret on its basis to give it right. The portal, decorated with a mosaic of carved bricks and enamelled bricks in the colours of the sky, is a huge vessel in the direction of the sky. Majoliques of majoliques, five- or ten-branch @, a few rare keys of yellow, green… look lost in this enchanting spatial geometry. Wings such as minarets are entirely covered with girikh, geometric motifs. Inside, about cells spread over two levels form a square courtyard. At the corners of the building, high court rooms were surmounted by domes now destroyed. In 1417, the madrasas of Oulough Begh was the largest university in Central Asia. More than pupils studied the Koran, but also astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and literature. The so-called "Plato of his time", Kazy-Zade-Rumi, came to teach astronomy there. Oulough Begh, enlightened governor, both mathematician, astronomer, poet and politician, also came in the yard of the madrasas arguing with the students. This openness to non-religious materials brought his death, his own son, allied to fanatical nuns, who killed him in 1449. " Owls had taken the place of students in these cells, and instead of silk curtains, their doors were strained with spiders'canvases. " The description dates back to 1711. At that time, the sumptuous Samarkand appeared to be dormant. The market, which took over the right of city in the centre of the city and entered the buildings, flooded the place du Registan with Detritus; brought by the wind, the sand also into and the level of the ground is mounted more than two meters! In 1873, Eugene Schuyller highlighted the dilapidated state of madrasas, which has only one floor, as well as the apparent optical illusion of minarets. It is in order to repair this "illusion" that the architects responsible for restoring monuments in the th century tried unsuccessfully to redress the right minaret. The bottom of the court is occupied by a mosque.

La Dor Dor. The Madrasas Dor Dor was built only two centuries later. At the beginning of the 1635 th century, Yalangtush Bakhadour, a vizier of Imam Kouli Khan and governor of Samarkand, probably wanted to awaken the sleepy city and left its imprint, destroyed what remained of caravanserai and khanaka and was built, between 1619 and, a madrasas on the other side of the square, in mirror with that of Oulough Begh. If the esthètes judge the Pure Dor Dor less pure in its proportions and ornaments, it is, however, that attracts the eyes when you arrive on the square of the. Its fire-lions-lions with a light portal as the sun come to respond to the starry vault of Madrasas D's:: the power of the sun facing the infinite of space. A legend tells us that the architect responsible for the construction of Shir Dor dies for violating the laws of Islam which prohibit figurative art. But the Sogdiane, which is the heart of Samarkand, has always been able to combine harmoniously the different religious and cultural influences it underwent. Some see in this lion-tiger the sun a allegorical representation of the power of Yalangtush Bakhadour, also referring to the symbolism of the zoroastrianism and the cult of fire. It was this lion-tiger that gave its name to madrasas: Shir Dor means "who wears the lion". The width of the two buildings is identical, but Madrasas Dor, built on the foundations of the ancient khanaka, is slightly lower than Madrasas Begh Begh. On each side of the portal, two domes in bulb au on the air relief coiffent the study rooms. Many inscriptions adorn the portal and drums of domes: " You are the great warrior, Yalangtush Bakhadour, if you add the numbers of your name, you get the date of the foundation. And also: " He raised a madrasas such as the earth was brought to the zenith of the sky. Or: " Never over the centuries, the clever acrobat of thought, by the string of fantasy, will reach the forbidden summits of minarets. " The inner Courtyard, entirely decorated with geometric motifs and green floral floral floral floral motifs, houses two floors of cells. Today students have been replaced by carpet sellers and suzani with the unquestionable commercial talents that paressent on the takhta or play cards, waiting for tourists. For a few hospitals, the gardien keeper will bring you up to the roof where the view plunges inside the courtyard.

The mosque Tilla Kari. In front of the stands, the Madrasas Tilla Kari, lower and the facade longer than the previous two, closes the north side of the place du Registan. On its left, the blue dome of the mosque distinguishes madrasas from its two neighbours. It is at this mosque that madrasas owes its name: Tilla Kari means'covered gold '. Just admire the stunning decorations of the interior of the dome to see that this nickname is entirely justified. The high portal and the two levels of cells are decorated with majoliques, interlaced floral motifs and solar symbols that echo the tones of the mosque Shir Dor. Yalangtush wanted to provide Samarkand with a Friday mosque worthy of its rank, that of Bibi Khanum being in ruins. He built a large deputy mosque in a madrasas, so that he could accommodate the greatest number of faithful in public ceremonies. La was built at the site of the caravanserai built under the Timourids, and whose foundations were preserved. The work lasted over 10 years, from 1646 to 1659, and the mosque was covered with gold. It is the youngest monument of the square and, probably, because of the imbalance created by the dome of the mosque at the angle of a facade of 120 m, the most surprising. Of the three madrasahs, it is the only one to have outward-looking cells, such as the Mir-i-Arab madrasas in Bukhara. The walls, the dome, the mihrab are entirely decorated with red and gold floral motifs on overseas blue background. The dome is particularly impressive, the concentric circles of gold leaves on a blue background seem killed le eyes. The ceiling is as flat as a table, but the decorations in the eye show it vaulted. Here too, students'cells and the adjoining halls of the mosque are home to souvenirs and antiques stores. However, a space was reserved to present photographs taken before and during the restoration. Between La Dor Dor and the Madrasas Tilla Kari stands the burial monument of the Dynastie dynasty, or dakhma of the Chaybanides. A simple cube cube covered with grey marble, he was once in the madrasas of Khan Chaybani.

Built near the tombs in the th century, the mosque took the name of a saint of the VIIIe, whose name Tamerlane would have brought back the body of Baghdad. Tourists are tolerated but the mosque is in operation, proper attire is recommended to visit it. If the crypt of Timur is closed, it is the custodian of the mosque that must be addressed to you. You will probably find it sitting in the shade of a tree in the courtyard of the mosque, drinking tea.

The «house of power and will» was built by Timur for Djahangir, his favorite son, who died prematurely in 1375. He was only 22 years old when a horse fell to him. The pain of Timur, which saw in him his successor, was immense and explained the construction of the mausoleum which, if one believed the descriptions of Clavijo, was richly decorated with gold and azure. An Arab proverb appears on the pediment: " The wise acts with noble intentions, while the fool counts on noble intentions. " The cone shaped dome recalls those of the Khorezm. An architecture influenced by craftsmen forced to leave Kounia-Ourgentch, the conquered capital of Khorezm, and to follow Timur in 1379. Timur planned to be buried in Dor US Siadad, but his body finally rested in Samarkand. The whole was largely destroyed by the canton of Bukhara, at the same time as the White Palace. But the mullahs succeeded in saving one part by believing to the Amir that the mausoleum of Djahangir supported that of a saint. Another son of Timur, Omar Sheikh, who died in 1394, was built in the deputy mausoleum.

Built by Oulough Begh in 1437 for his family, this square shape mausoleum is like a miniature replica of the mosque that faces him. It is surmounted by a cylindrical drum decorated with coufiques inscriptions on which a blue dome is built. The interior is beautifully decorated with geometrical, épigraphiques and floral frescoes. Alongside the family tombstones of Oulough Begh are tombs of Des, a dynasty from Termez, descended from Hussain, the grandson of Mohammed, who gave their name to the mausoleum.

The mosque was built by Oulough Begh in front of the Mausolée Koulial mausoleum in 1435. Before renovation, there remained only the inner dome, 22 m high; it is 36 today. She gave her name to the mosque: Kok Goumbaz means "blue dome". The acoustics are perfect. The walls and inner dome are entirely covered with polychrome geometric motifs. Notice the glazed bricks of the external portal, the old and new bricks are clearly distinguished. The original technique that allowed the gradient of blue would have been lost, perhaps it is too expensive. To obtain the same decorative effect, three small bricks are needed in replacement of an old brick gradient. Twice a year, several thousand people gather there to pray.

The «House of Meditation and Contemplation» was built around Mazar Shamseddin Koulial. The whole was raised by Timur in 1373, for his father Taraghay and a famous Sufi, Sheikh Shamseddin Koulial, who was the spiritual master of his father. The two mausoleums are surmounted by almost identical domes. The whole was completed by Oulough Begh.

Located in one of the narrow streets of the old town behind the Shahrisabz hotel, this small khanaka built in the early th century welcomed the dervishes of passage. The small mosque is surrounded by cells where, at the beginning of the century, studied and lived des. The location has not been too restored and has kept its charm.

Ak means "white" but understood as "noble," because white was in no way the colour of Tamerlane palace whose walls were covered with azur azure and dark blue. The visitor's first contact with this huge square, set up in the park in the late 1990 s, is disappointing. There is not much of the sumptuous palace that can be imagined by the story of Clavijo. The ruins of the portal are immense - 30 m - and still covered with majolica tiles, but the 22 m high vault has not resisted the earthly attraction. The damage are old since it was the Emir of Bukhara who destroyed the building in the th century: the palace, whose construction lasted more than a quarter of a century, made it shadow… there is, of course, a legend about the architect of this palace: in the first version, once the palace finished, Timur asks the architect if he is able to build an even more beautiful palace, the spavento answers yes, and is immediately thrown off the high walls; in the second version, the architect was supposed to enter at the foot of the ark, the following sentence: «The Sultan is the shadow of Allah», but on one side he missed him, which gave: " The Sultan is the shadow "! The architect invoquer the Koran which bans the decorative symmetry, you guess… In each turn, a spiral staircase climbs at the top where the view is splendid on the city and the snow-capped summits in the south.

In 2007, the ruins of the palace were residences from a grid that you only cross with 1 500 hospitals (0,8 € approx.), but you can just as easily look at the grid. On the other hand, you will have to enter the enclosure if you want to climb the doors of the palace (1 500 supplémentaires extra) to enjoy the beautiful panorama of the city and its surroundings.

In the modern part of the city. It is impossible to miss the huge arrow of the Monument to the Deaths of the Second World War and the victims of fascism, erected in 1987. It presents austere exterior frescoes and imposing stained glass windows, where a flame burns permanently under the 120 t and 134 m high metal arrow. Uzbekistan is proud to have the third largest monument to the world's dead, following those of Russia (in Volgograd) and Canada. The monument is flanked by a small museum (200 hospitals entrance) featuring photographs of all the veterans of the region, and the names of the victims. A hall is dedicated to the Uzbek parties to wage war in Afghanistan under the Soviet banner.

The mausoleum of Sheikh Burhaniddin Sagarji, said Rukhobod or «residence of the spirit», was built in 1380 by Timur, to host the remains of his mentor and his family. It is one of the oldest monuments in the city. Its architecture is simple: a cubic base with symmetrical sides, surmounted by a octagonal drum on which a conical dome is 22 m high. Important dimensions that recall the timurid origin of the building. It is said that a wick of the Prophet's hair was buried with the remains of the holy man. His tomb lies almost at the centre of the mausoleum, next to that of the Sheikh's wife, Bibi Khalfa. On his death, in China, his body was mummified and brought back to Samarkand with camel back, also buried in the mausoleum, under pavés. Pavés are designer by the nails of the architect, who signa his work. The other ten graves were the children of Sheikh Burhaniddin Sagarji, eight boys and two girls. The tombs of the latter two recognize their keen shape and are embellished with surahs of the Koran. The East door is of origin, and still bears in Arabic the favorite sentence of Timur: " Allah is the only God and Mohammed is his prophet. At the beginning of the s, at the foot of the mausoleum, it was one of the most pleasant restaurants in the city; According to the neighbours, the owner and his family fell ill, victims of a curse, for having made trade in a holy place. The restaurant has thus disappeared but the curse has not prevented merchants of souvenirs from investing the cells of the restored khanaka in 1996. The minaret of the th century has also been restored. Its architecture is a reflection of the portal of entrée. Just behind, the splendid traditional house with iwan, with colonnades and painted woodwork, is that of Khodja Muin Shukurullaev (1883-1942).

Formerly lost in a small narrow streets, the Gour Emir (or tomb of the sovereign), the mausoleum of Timur, is now facing the rue du Registan. A large esplanade was released, recreating the original plan and the "royal lane" paved with white slabs which, in the fourteenth century, connected the Gour Emir to the mausoleum of Sheik Burhanaddin, says Rukhobod. The disintegration of the USSR brought the young republic of Uzbekistan into a new era, but deprived it of its ideals and of its official «hero», Lenin, a hero who was culturally and historically alien but omnipresent. This ideological vacuum allowed the «renaissance» of Timur, whose existence had been carefully disguised in shadow for seventy years. An historic, cultural and political recognition that gives this victorious, bloodthirsty warrior the very first place in the pantheon of the new Uzbekistan. His mausoleum has thus become one of the top spots in the country, a symbol of the greatness and power of the Uzbek nation. In the image of another great conqueror, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane wanted to be soberly buried: " Just a stone and my name over ", he said, and his tomb was prepared in a crypt in his hometown of Shahrisabz. But history decided otherwise. In 1401, Muhamad Sultan, a favourite grandson of Timur and her designated successor, built a four-minarets architectural ensemble composed of an inner courtyard bordered by four iwan, which gave a madrasas to the east and a khanaka to the west. Madrasas was devoted to the education of the sons of noble families destined to work in the administration, a timurid version of the ENA. In the khanaka, residence of the dervishes, there was also a dome mosque. Today, only the traces of the foundations testify to these constructions, but one can admire the portal still richly decorated on which is inscribed in Persian: " Built by the little slave Mohamed, son of Mahmoud, Isfahan, and facing him, part of the wall of the iwan closing the inner courtyard on the south side and behind which the Gour Emir stands. When, in 1403, Muhamad Sultan, still young, died in a campaign in Persia, Timur made this mausoleum, the most beautiful one, for the one in whom he had seen his successor. When the first dome was completed, Timur found him too small, destroyed it and ordered the construction of a new dome, larger, which was completed in less than two weeks. Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo tells how the workers worked day and night, and described Tamerlane, sick and litière, who came in person twice monitoring the work. In February 1405, Timur died in turn and his body, fragrant musk and camphor, was temporarily and secretly buried in the khanaka beside her grandson. It was only four years later, when the succession struggles were settled, that the remains of the royal people joined their present residence in the crypt crypt. On that occasion, the spiritual master of Timur, Sheikh Mir-Said-Bereke, was buried. Timur is resting on his feet as he wished. Legend claims that, during the first few years, following his burial, the sovereign was heard every night from his royal tomb, until all the scientists, astronomers, architects and artisans, who had been forcibly brought to Samarkand by his conquests, returned home. When all these prisoners were released, the emperor finally found the rest. Subsequently, other Timourids came to join him, including two sons from Timur, Shakhrukh and Miranshakh, as well as his grandson Oulough Begh. He also brought changes to the architectural ensemble. He added a gallery to the mausoleum, and began to build another mausoleum, which only remains ruins, and a crypt that can be seen behind the Gour Emir. It was also Oulough Begh who brought Mongolia back to the bloc block, which covered Timur's tomb, and that caused the burial slabs of a barrier marble barrier to surround. Like all the constructions of Timur, the Gour Emir is grandiose. The volumes, simple, are of imposing size. The outer dome is 32 m high and a 3 m high Sufi inscription surrounds its base: it reads: «Allah is the only God and Mohammed is his prophet». On this drum is a stretched dome, 12,50 m high and 15 m in diameter, fully covered with blue ice bricks that sixty-four ribs interspersed with yellow and blue diamond appear to stretch towards the sky. The interior of the mausoleum is even more sumptuous: first of all, the translucent green of the onyx walls, once fortified with gold and lazurite decorations, higher of the blue and gold coraniques inscriptions which populate the room, finally the cupola that geometric gold decorations on soft blue background make "like the sky", according to the words of the historian Cheref-ad Din. In the centre, seven funerary tiles, including that of Mir-Said-Bereke, the spiritual master of Timur, where a pole is attached to a horse, indicating the tomb of a saint. At his feet, the funeral slab of Timur, in nephritis, is covered with numerous inscriptions listing the ancestors of "the Emir of Iron". This detailed genealogy underscores her kinship with Genghis Khan and goes back to a certain Bouzanjir, son of the virtuous Alavanka and a ray of light. The tombstone is split in its middle: it is, however, Nadir Shah who, during his campaigns in the th century, wanted to prevail in Persia and the crack believing that she had the riches of Timur. The other graves are those of Muhamad Sultan, grandson of Timur, Oulough Begh, son, Shah Rukh and Miranshah, two other sons of Timur. The real graves are in a closed crypt for tourists. If there are not too many people at the time of the visit, it is possible to ask the guardian, with a slight tip, to open the door that leads there. In the crypt, Timur's funeral slab is also broken.

In the courtyard on the right of the entrance, Kok Tash is a stone block about 3 m long and 1,50 m wide on which the throne of Timur rested. The custom wanted it to be on this stone, with magical powers, that the leaders of Bukhara were crowned. " Fallen from heaven, she would not have left a false episode or a khan khan approaching her, "says Eugène Schuyler.

The town of Samarkand would be by underground. One of them would leave from the Gour Emir and drive to Registan. During Ramadan or shortly before Navrouz, a few mullahs go into procession across the city underground. Dressed in white and sandals, they illuminate candles and, of course, refuse to allow tourists to accompany them.

In the village of Vabkent stands the glittering silhouette of a 39 m high minaret, typical of the karakhanaïde architecture. This is only an optical illusion due to its slimming which appears to be higher than Kalon minaret in Bukhara, to which it gives 4 m.

Following the Rue street, take the second street on the right after madrasas. This is the old rue des makers, leading to a mausoleum dating back to the th century where only men are allowed to enter. A mosque and an accompanying madrasas welcome Muslims for prayer.

Restored in 1992, this madrasas was founded in 1910 by a rich cotton tycoon from Namangan. The portal and minarets have been entirely restored and decorated with ceramics. Inside, a small courtyard planted with huge trees is surrounded by 35 cells that could accommodate nearly 150 students. At the right of the entrance, a little in height, a iwan with finely decorated woodwork dominates the whole.

This huge complex comprising a madrasas and a mosque, capable of welcoming 10 000 worshippers, was built between 1885 and 1892 by a rich inhabitant of Andijan. The Madrasas Jumi was largely destroyed during the earthquake of 1902, and rebuilt on the same pattern: two domes, a facade of 123 m long and 122 cells. She underwent renovation work between 1970 and 1975, before being transformed into a Literary Museum in 1995. Inside, you can access the roofs and the two domes, which offer an unobstructed view of the nearby Jumi mosque and its minaret. As in the other cities of the Ferghana Valley, the mosque was closed following the attacks of 11 September 2001, and remains separated from la by an inner wall.

The construction of the last Khan palace of Kokand lasted 11 years, from 1863 to 1873. It mobilisat as many as 16 000 workers and 80 craftsmen from Rishtan, Samarkand and other cities in the country. Five years later, the Russians destroyed the most. The building presented a large,-door breakthrough, named after the cities to which they led. Today you can reach the palace through a dallée path which climbs up to a monumental portal flanked by two fine turrets. The long facade of the building is entirely decorated with blue, yellow, orange and green glazed bricks, which owe a great deal to restaurateurs. The majoliques of the left wing were made by craftsmen from Namangan and Andijan, those on the right, who knew a new restoration at the time of our investigation by craftsmen from Kokand. All of the inner courtyards were also in work and the ambitine renovation program rebuilding the harem. Everything should be finished within four years. Meanwhile, the muséographiques parties remain open to the public. Originally, the palace had 7 courses and 114 pieces, or as many surahs as the Koran. There are now only 4 courses and 19 pieces, most of them transformed into museums. The visit usually begins by the left wing of the palace, where the former Khan reception room was located. It is decorated from the ground to the ceiling in the traditional Uzbek style. A model of the palace allows to see the harem (the khan had 43 women) that was destroyed during the Soviet takeover of Kokand. Admire the quality of the decorations. Most of the paintings are original. In the upper right you will notice a darker space: the original colours are not renewed. Guests contacted the reception room with a small room in the north, where the secretary of the Khan was located. The ensemble overlooks a sumptuous courtyard bordered by a magnificent th century iwan from a mosque built by Timur in Chakhimardan. On the east side, wooden poles supporting iwan are new. The original poles are exposed under the southern iwan, itself supported by columns of original wood. One can also dwell on the Charettes of Kokand and their oversized wheels, cord with the carriage of Mandalak, a rich German who came to stay in Kokand in the 19 th century. It was said that the khan appreciated that he was given the heads of his enemies and that they were smashed at the foot of one of the pillars of this iwan. Of these warlike customs, there are only two canons: the first, short and artistically wound, is a local production of the 1840 th century, the second, long and end, comes from China and was taken to the enemy during the war of against the Kashgar khanate. In the south-west corner of the courtyard, a small reception room hosted the secret Entretiens Khan talks. It is decorated with 114 different motifs, or as many pieces as the original palace. When it was transformed into a museum in 1925, various pieces were brought into this small piece, such as the 17 th Century Japanese and Chinese vases, or the Kaufman Chair. The other wings of the palace, particularly the one where European diplomats and dignitaries were received, were also turned into a museum. There are various archaeological discoveries from the valley, as well as interesting photographs of the construction of the Ferghana Canal or the search of the 47 tombs in the Pap village. Other spaces are devoted to weaponry at the time of timourids, but also exposes some rifles as well as two unusual French and Italian shields from the 1924 th century that were offered to the museum during an exhibition in. A second, then a third inner courtyard leads to the old mosque and other rooms decorated in traditional style. They are transformed into museums of history or crafts. One can see, among other things, a paper factory model and a reconstitution of a workshop as a jeweler. In the last room you can take a look at Khudaïar Khan's personal diary.

A souvenir shop is located in one of the pieces giving in the courtyard of the khan's sons. Iganbediev Abdousamat, head of the museum's history section, can help you visit traditional houses and stay in the living room. The museum director, Mansurova Manzurahon, can also help you if you are looking for accommodation.

This madrasas of 1833 was partially restored in 1992. On the left of the entrance, a superb iwan decorated with wood panelling and traditional paintings is worth the visit. Madrasas houses the foundation of Jamila Karimova, who welcomes disabled people to teach them traditional Uzbek embroidery. Jamila's dream is to find a French stylist who would agree to develop with her a collection combining Uzbek and French styles.

Dating back to the late th century, this madrasas was one of the few, with the Mir-i-Arab madrasas in Bukhara, to host students during the period of Soviet occupation. It is still home to 150 students. Here, the visit (negotiating the price at the entrance) makes it possible to familiarise oneself with the operation of madrasas and the life of teachers as well as students, unlike the madrasahs transformed into souvenir shops. Just behind, the cemetery of the/has two mausoleums, at the end of a small street behind madrasas; This is done by bypassing it by the right. The Modari Khan Mausoleum, built in 1825, houses the remains of the mother of Omar Khan. The monument is surmounted by a blue dome and its portal mimics, in miniature, that of Bibi Khanum mosque in Samarkand. The Dakhma-i-Chakhan mausoleum (or «the tomb of the kings»), which is more imposing and colorful (it was restored in 1970), combines styles that illustrate the artistic talents recognized by the three khanates of Uzbekistan: Uzs's woodwork, the Ferghana paintings and the ornaments of Bukhara. Beside the mausoleum lies the tombs of the khan, his sons and his brother.

This was the site of Kasba, a sogdienne town whose name would come from Kassob, "the good craftsmen." It was known to be very good potters and made the best bricks. At the entrance to the necropolis dedicated to a local branch of the Sayyid dynasty is an impressive sardoba (water reservoir) whose immense vault is still preserved. The mausoleum of Seyd Amir Samsidin was built in the 1491 th century but the stone tombstone dates back to. The summer mosque and the dome mosque were built between the th and th centuries, as well as the minaret for which bricks from the former town of Kasba were used. At the right end of the site, a corrugated sheet construction protects some graves and two beautiful tombstones covered with inscriptions. The whole was restored in secret in the s by the head of the RaïKom, the local prefect, while the zone was forbidden and abandoned. Not far from Kasbi, in the village of Khodja Kharlik, you can also visit the mausoleum and Imam Mohamed Sadir Islam Kabristani mosque.