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Abdi Darun

A small shrine complex around the grave of a medieval jurist, with a mosque, a pool and old plane trees in a quiet neighbourhood.

EnsemblesUNESCO World Heritage12th–20th centuriesAbout 30 minutes to see

About the place

The complex grew around the grave of Abdi, a respected Islamic scholar and judge of early Samarkand. "Darun" means "inner", because the grave was inside the old city walls, while a similar shrine of another Abdi stood outside them.

The mausoleum was rebuilt in the Timurid period, and a mosque, a madrasa and a pool were added later. Shaded by plane trees, it is still used by people from the surrounding mahalla.

Sources (1)

  1. 1.Wikidata

Nearby

  • Ishratkhona MausoleumMausoleums

    Under 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Ishratkhona Mausoleum

    A roofless fifteenth-century Timurid mausoleum in the east of the old city, where women and children of the dynasty were buried.

  • Khoja Nisbatdor MosqueEnsembles

    1 km away

    Khoja Nisbatdor Mosque

    A neighbourhood mosque of 1901 a few hundred metres south of the Registan in Samarkand, with a painted ayvon and a short minaret.

  • Imam al-Maturidi Memorial ComplexMausoleums

    2 km away

    Imam al-Maturidi Memorial Complex

    A memorial garden and domed mausoleum opened in 2000 over the grave site of the 10th-century theologian al-Maturidi, about a kilometre south-east of the Registan.