EnsemblesUnder 1 km away
Shaybanid Dakhma
A raised marble platform on the Registan in Samarkand with 36 gravestones of the Shaybanid dynasty, including Muhammad Shaybani Khan, from the 16th century.
Tilla-Kari Madrasa
The north side of the Registan in Samarkand: a madrasa and Friday mosque of 1646–1660 whose prayer hall glitters with gilded decoration.
Ensembles1646–1660About 40 minutes to see
About the place
Yalangtush Bahadur, governor of Samarkand, began this building in 1646 on the site of a 15th-century caravanserai. With Bibi-Khanym in ruins at the time, it was designed as both a madrasa and the city's Friday mosque; work went on for fourteen years and ended in 1660, after his death, and the outer dome of the mosque was left unfinished.
Tilla-Kari means "gilded", after the gold-covered painting of the mosque interior. An earthquake in 1817–1818 brought down the top of the portal, and much of the tilework was lost by 1900; restorers worked here through the 20th century, added the outer dome in the 1970s and finished the interior painting in 1979. The building closes the north side of the Registan and holds an exhibition on the square's restoration.
Why go
- The gilded prayer hall of the Registan
- Madrasa and Friday mosque in one
- Completes the three-madrasa Registan ensemble
Sources (4)
Nearby
- Ensembles
EnsemblesUnder 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage
Ulugh Beg Madrasa
The oldest building on the Registan, raised in 1417–1421 by Timur's grandson Ulugh Beg as a leading school of religious and secular learning.
EnsemblesUnder 1 km awayUNESCO World Heritage
Registan
The central square of old Samarkand, framed on three sides by the Ulugh Beg, Sher-Dor and Tilla-Kari madrasas.
MuseumsUnder 1 km away
Chorsu Gallery
A domed eighteenth-century trading hall behind the Registan, now used as an art gallery.