Historical monuments of Samarkand

Ulugbek Madrassah

The madrassah of Ulugbeg was under construction from 1417-1420. Its huge portal has an arch of 15m in width. The mosaic panel above the arch shows a symbolic sky with five and ten pointed stars. The madrassah had a platform for astronomical observations before Ulugbeg's observatory was built, and had fifty cells for one hundred students. Sheikh Khodja Akhrar and poet Djami were among the outstanding graduates of this madrassah. In the 20th century the northeastern and southeastern minarets were repaired, new domes were installed, and the portal arch and tympan were restored.

Sher-Dor Madrassah

Sher-Dor Madrassah

Sher-Dor Madrassah was constructed from 1619-1636, in a style imitating Ulugbeg's Madrassah. Ribbed domes on high towers soared over the two-storied facade on the sides of the front portal. Islamic inscriptions, geometrical and floral ornamentation decorate the interior. Especially interesting are the tympans of the portal arch. They are decorated with an anthropomorphic depiction of the sun and tiger attacking a fallow deer. Hence, the name of Sher-Dor - "having tigers". This pattern was nearly lost by the middle of the 20th century and has been restored.

Tillya-Kary Madrassah

In the middle of the 17th century, the cathedral mosque of Bibi-Khanym lay in ruins and Samarkand needed a new mosque. Yalangtush-biy ordered its construction on the Registan. The mosque was planned to operate as a madrassah as well. Construction lasted almost twenty years and was finished in 1660. The richest gilding on the dome, walls and mihrab surpassed all other famous buildings in Central Asia. For this reason, the madrassah was named Tillya-Kari, which means "coated with gold". The dome of the mosque remained unfinished up to the 20th century. At the same time, its faded facing was restored. 

Ak-Sarai Mausoleum

The Ak-Sarai Mausoleum of the 1470's is located to the southeast of Gur-Emir. It is deemed a male necropolis of the last Samarkand Temurids. The mausoleum was built under the order of the Temurid governor Abu Sa'id (1451-1468/9). In 1457 Abu Sa'id conquered Khurasan and moved the capital to Herat. In 1468/9 he was killed in Azerbaijan fighting against the Turkmen. The mausoleum has an underground octahedral crypt. Some headless person is buried in a special niche by the eastern wall. It might be a tomb of Ulugbeg's son Ab-dullatif (1449-1450) who was executed for murdering his father.