BIBI KHANUM MOSQUE
Read moreFor the traveller arriving by car from Tashkent, the huge blue dome of Bibi Khanum rising behind the compact and colourful crowd on their way to the market is one of the first images of Samarkand the Timurid. It was in 1399, on his return from his campaign in India where his troops had set fire to the temples of the Zoroastrian and Hindu infidels, that Tamerlan decided to build the Masjid-i-Jami mosque, known today as Bibi Khanum, daughter of the Emperor of China and Tamerlan's favourite woman. The best architects and craftsmen from Khorassan, Azerbaijan and India worked on the construction of what was to be the largest mosque in Central Asia. The best location in the capital was chosen and Tamerlan laid the foundation stone on the most auspicious day, the fourth day of Ramadan 801 (10 May 1399). Ninety-five elephants, which Tamerlan had brought back from his conquests in Hinduhistan, maneuvered huge blocks of stone needed for construction. According to Cherif id Din, there were four hundred and eighty five-metre high blocks! Entrusting the supervision of the grandiose project to his most faithful collaborators, Tamerlan set off on new conquests in Asia Minor, and did not return to Samarkand until July 1404. According to Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, a Castilian ambassador and keen observer who visited Samarkand in August 1404, Tamerlan's first wife was actually named Cano. She was the daughter of Chiacao, emperor of the province of Samarkand and former king of Persia and Damascus, and it was in honour of Cano's mother that the mosque was built. Clavijo recounts how, on his return from Asia Minor, Tamerlan considered the gate too low and had it demolished and then rebuilt. The workers who took turns day and night were treated rather harshly. Those who worked in the pits had meat thrown at them like dogs, sometimes adding coins so that they could continue their hard work without respite. According to the historian Sharaf ad-Din, upon his return in 1404, Tamerlan fell into a black fury because Bibi Khanum, who must have been a strong-willed woman, had a madrasah and mausoleum built for herself right in front of the mosque. As later archaeological excavations showed, Tamerlan's fury may have been due to the fact that the madrasah's portal was not built in parallel with the mosque's portal. Whatever was the real reason for the Iron Emir's anger, legend has taken hold of it and the following story is told: while Tamerlan was fighting far from his lands, Bibi Khanum decided to surprise him by erecting the highest mosque ever built. Asked to hurry up, the architect ends up getting a kiss from her in exchange for her promise to finish the work on time. The kiss was so torrid and so hot that Bibi Khanum still had a mark on his cheek when the emperor returned. This one went into a frenzy. The felon architect climbed to the top of one of the minarets and flew forever to Persia. Bibi Khanum was thrown from the top of another minaret, and Tamerlan gave the order that in his empire all women should wear the veil so that their faces would no longer tempt the men when the husbands were at war.
At the time of its construction, the complex included four marble-paved galleries, covered with 400 domes and supported by 400 marble columns, which surrounded a huge inner courtyard measuring 130 m by 102 m. Two 50 m high minarets stood on either side of the 35 m high entrance portal and the portal of the large prayer hall, which was 40 m high. Four other minarets were located at each outer corner of the courtyard. To the north and south, two smaller mosques, each decorated with a dome resting on a lavishly decorated cylindrical drum, looked towards the centre of the courtyard where the Qur'an of Osman, the second largest Qur'an in Islam, dating from the seventh century, which Tamerlan brought back from Damascus, rested on a marble lectern. It is said that the suras were written in such large letters that imams could read them from the top of the colonnade. It is also said that as soon as it was finished, the mosque was already beginning to deteriorate. The haste of the architects probably had something to do with it and the earthquakes, one of which had its epicentre in the very centre of the mosque, did the rest. Armin Vambery, the false dervish who managed to visit Samarkand in 1863, describes a very damaged monument which was used as a garage for carts. Ten years later, Eugene Schuyller also went to Samarkand and described the courtyard of the mosque, which had been transformed into a cotton market: the large marble lectern on which the Koran Osman was placed was still there. He also reported on the popular belief that, to cure back pain, one had to crawl between the nine short, thick pillars supporting the lectern. Another superstition was that infertile women would come there in the morning on an empty stomach in order to procreate. Even today, you can still see women crawling between these pillars... The restorers worked for more than forty years to rebuild the mosque to gradually restore it to its original shape. The three domes have reappeared, but those of the north and south mosques are already losing their blue ceramic decorations.
AK SARAI MAUSOLEUM
Read moreLocated behind the Gur Emir, the "White Palace" is a mausoleum from 1470, renovated a few years ago and still surrounded by houses. Much quieter than its large neighbour, you can admire a blue and gold dome, frescoes and beautiful bas-reliefs in the main room. Some historians believe that it is the mausoleum of the male descendants of the Timurids. Others opt instead for nobles, close to Tamerlan. A decapitated skeleton was discovered in the crypt and could be that of Abd-al-Latif, the parricide son of Ulugh Begh.
KHAZRET KHIZR MOSQUE OR TRAVELLERS' MOSQUE
Read moreThe unusual and asymmetrical appearance of this mosque perched on the hill of Afrosyab immediately catches the eye. The colonnaded iwan and the domed entrance date from 1854. In 1919, the architect Abdukadir Bini Baki added a portal and the minaret. This mosque, dedicated to Elijah, the patron saint of travellers and groundwater, was built on the site of another mosque, itself built on the site of one of the oldest holy places in the city in pre-Islamic times. It was near this site that the running water canal of the ancient city of Afrosyab passed, and it is known that the Zoroastrian priests were responsible for irrigation and all matters relating to water, one of the sacred elements of the ancient religion. From the iwan, there is a breathtaking view of the Shah-i-Zinda.
When you reach the mosque via the viaduct, recently built above the road to connect it to the bazaar, you can also visit the tomb of Islam Karimov. The former Uzbek president was buried in his hometown, a stone's throw from the Travellers' Mosque, and lies in a small pavilion with many basil plants, which are supposed to accompany the souls of the dead to the afterlife. It is a place of meditation for many Uzbeks and the tourist guides are full of praise, even if many more people think that the country is doing very well without its former dictator..
RUKHOBOD MAUSOLEUM
Read moreThe mausoleum of Sheikh Burhanuddin Sagarji, known as Rukhobod or 'residence of the spirit', was built in 1380 by Tamerlan to house 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 an octagonal drum on which rests a conical dome 22 m high. Large dimensions that recall the Timurid origin of the building.
It is said that a lock of the Prophet's hair was buried with the saint's remains. His grave lies almost in the centre of the mausoleum, next to that of the sheik's wife, Bibi Khalfa. When he died in China, his body was mummified and brought back to Samarkand on camelback, also buried in the mausoleum under the cobblestones. The paving stones are scratched by the nails of the architect, who signed his work.
The other ten graves are those of Sheikh Burhanuddin Sagarji's children, eight boys and two girls. The tombs of the latter two can be recognized by their more tapered shape and are decorated with suras from the Koran. The east door is original, and still bears, engraved in Arabic script, Tamerlan's favourite phrase: "Allah is the only God and Muhammad is his prophet". The 14th century minaret has also been restored. Its architecture is a reflection of the entrance portal of the khanaka. Just behind it, the splendid traditional house in iwan, with colonnades and painted woodwork, is that of Khodja Muin Shukurullaev (1883-1942).
MAUSOLEUM OF THE PROPHET DANIEL
Read moreSet on the edge of the Afrosyab cliff overlooking the Syab River, the long, five-domed mausoleum would have a most soothing view if a factory hadn't been built just below it. He was abandoned for a very long time. In 1996, Patriarch Alexis, passing through Uzbekistan, came to visit the tomb of St. Daniel. The "Mausoleum of the Prophet Daniel" is indeed the only place in Samarkand that attracts and gathers pilgrims from the three monotheistic confessions: Muslim, Christian and Jewish. It was built at the beginning of the 14th century by Tamerlan, who brought back the bones of the saint from his campaign in Asia Minor. Eugene Schuyller, in 1873, although he does not mention the mausoleum, reports that hermits had lived in caves in the cliffs of Afrosyab. It is probably one of those caves that can be seen right next to the mausoleum and which was used as a millikhana. The grave is no less than 18 m long! It is said that the bones of the saint continue to grow a few centimetres each year. At the head of the tomb, one can see ornamental elements of Koranic calligraphy engraved in the stone. At the foot of the steps, near the river, a small domed building houses a holy water source. The believers make their ablutions there and quench their thirst. Outside the moments of pilgrimage, it is a cool, very calm and soothing place where it is good to stop for a few moments on the way back from Afrosyab's visit.
ISHRATKHANA MAUSOLEUM
Read moreLocated almost opposite the Khodja Abd-i-Daroun complex, the 15th-century mausoleum of Ishratkhana is the burial monument of the women and children of the Timurid dynasty. It was built by Khabibi-Sultan-Beghim, wife of Sultan Abu Sayid. Its name, which translates as "house of joy", would have been given to it because of its sumptuous decorations, which can only be guessed at today. Following the earthquakes of 1897 and 1903, the central dome collapsed. In the centre, an underground crypt houses about twenty tombs.
BIBI KHANUM MAUSOLEUM
Read moreThe mausoleum of Tamerlan's wife, slender and rather solitary, is also a place of pilgrimage for women. It was erected at the end of the 14th century and houses, in its octagonal crypt, three coffins of women. The interior has again been "perfectly" restored. That is to say, with strong gilding and shiny interlacing, which takes away a little from the authenticity of the whole. And, as with the mosque, it is no longer possible to go up to the roof of the mausoleum. But the staff occasionally seems more open to discussion on the subject, with tips...