The main square of Samarkand. Registan square in Samarkand: description
Ancient witnesses of the history of Samarkand
"The dawn is burning, sparkling green domes gleaming from the clouds.
And minarets of wondrous beauty flaunt like flowers everywhere ... "
Alisher Navoi
Square Registan, translated means "Sandy place"... Registan - administrative and trade and craft center eastern city. Registan in Samarkand- one of the outstanding examples of urban planning arts Central Asia established in the 17th century and consisting of three madrasahs - Ulugbek(1417-1420), Sher-Dor(1619-1636) and Tillya-Kari(1647-1660). On it you can "turn pages" thousand-year history of Samarkand. The whole history of the medieval city was also reflected here. There is a trade building on the north-east side Chorsu built in the 18th century. They say that everyone roads lead to Rome... Undoubtedly, all Samarkand roads lead to Registan. Six radial streets converged to the square, at the intersection of which at the beginning XV century Tim was built "Tilpak-Furushan"... On the northern side of the square, Ulugbek erected a caravanserai named Mirzoi. All the streets adjacent to it were packed with small workshops and benches.
Four years after the construction of the caravanserai on the site where it now stands Sher-Dor, Ulugbek builds a khanaka. In this regard, the shopping arcade had to be dismantled. Everyone who enters this square is seized by a special mood: it seems that after centuries, inviting people will fly here. the screams of the artisans, the rumble of an oriental bazaar, voices of heralds reading the decrees of the rulers ...
During the time of Amir Timur Registan- home trade area cities. During the reign of Mirzo Ulugbek, it acquires a ceremonial and official character. However, the importance of the center of public life, trade and craft activities of the city of Registan is preserved and to this day.
Architectural ensembles are an outstanding achievement of creative thought in the 15th century. At this time, the most important urban planning task was the architectural design of the Registan Square.
"Oh, miracle! His bulk, like a mountain, stands firmly, supporting the sky. The majestic facade in height is a double of heaven, from the weight of the ridge of the earth comes to shudder ", - words from an old Tajik verse that emphasize the scale of the madrasah. 
Built in 1417-1420 Ulugbek madrasah (madrasah - the spiritual institution of Muslims from the Arabic "madras" - the place of teaching) during the life of the outstanding scientist was the largest scientific educational institution in Central Asia in the 15th century. Apart from theology, mathematics, astronomy and philosophy were studied here. Lectures were delivered by the most prominent scientists of that time. So, for example, the astronomy course read "Plato of his era" Salahuddin Musa ibn-Muhammad Kazy-Zade-Rumi. There is evidence that Mirzo Ulugbek himself taught at this school, where he repeatedly held disputes with students and scientists. Here Alisher Navoi listened to lectures, Abdurahman Jami studied. Thus, the madrasah became the center of Central Asian education.
By the XV century. the basic planning techniques of the madrasah were developed. And the type of Central Asian madrasah receives its most brilliant, truly classical solution in the Ulugbek madrasah. The architecture of the building reveals great craftsmanship. The author of the project is considered to be the court architect of Shakhrukh, Ulugbek's father, Kavamaddin Sherazi, the author of the famous ensembles in Herat and madrasah in Hargirde. Dimensions of madrasah(81x51 m, yard 30x30 m) created an image of self-affirming grandeur, not inferior to the buildings of the Timur era. The madrasah has a rectangular plan. To the side squares the main facade of the madrasah is facing, the composition of which is determined by the portal, two minarets and sections of the walls connecting them, above which the domes of two rooms for studies rose. The spiral-shaped, upward-tapering ornament emphasizes the harmony of the minarets, their proportionality, enhances the feeling of aspiration upward. Northeastern the minaret was straightened in 1932 according to the scheme of academician V.G. Shukhov, according to the project and under the leadership Mikhail Fedorovich Mauer... MF Mauer developed a unique turntable system and with its help straightened not only the tilting minaret, but also the minaret unfolding when tilted around its axis. This was an unprecedented event in engineering practice.
Exceptionally rich, varied architectural decor madrasah... Against the background of the yellowish luggage of the walls, various geometric touches lined with glazed bricks, a mosaic panel on the cheeks and gable of the portal and a majolica braid framing the arch are spectacular. Tympanum the portal is decorated with an ornament of five-pointed and ten-pointed stars, depicting a stylized starry sky.
The combination of courage, simplicity of idea, simplicity of technical fittings and accuracy of calculation do honor to the achievements of the masters of that time.
Restorers have repaired the tympanum of the portal, restored the ornament, cleaned and covered the base of the walls with marble, restored the facing of the portal, restored the courtyard of the madrasah, and straightened southeast minaret was carried out in 1965 according to the project of the engineer E.M. Handel.
On the site of the dilapidated and destroyed khanaka of Mirzo Ulugbek on the eastern side of the square, Yalangtush-Bahadur() - (a military leader, a clever politician, a ruler of a large feudal inheritance, an energetic governor of the Bukhara khans in Samarkand) builds a madrasah that almost mirrors the facade of the opposite Ulugbek madrasah. The Samarkand khakim tried not to yield to the great ancestors in anything - neither in splendor, nor in the scale of the structure. The base of Sher-Dora is 1.5 m higher than the area of Ulugbek's time. The layout of the madra is 70x56 m, the courtyard is 30x38 m. The composition of the courtyard is traditional: it is surrounded by two floors of hujras (rooms where students lived in the madrasah), four ayvans, along the main facade there are two darskhons (classrooms). The mosaic part on the madrasah portal reads:
"Warlord, commander, fair Yalangtush! If an arrow comes in praising his perfection, it is a graceful tongue full of pearls. He built such a madrasa that he brought the earth to zenith of the sky, is the banner of their mutual decoration. Will not reach for years high summit its portal with the power and zeal of the skilful wings is an eagle of the mind. For centuries does not reach the top of its forbidden minarets skillful acrobat thoughts along the rope of fantasy. When the architect of the exact correctness erected the bend of the portal arch, the heavens, mistaking for a new moon, bit their finger in surprise".
Along with this inscription in a more modest place in white letters on a black background inscribed: "Abdul Jabbar, architect", fantasy which, and by the labor of folk craftsmen, are embodied in stone and the color of Yalangtush's ambitious plans. Madrasah Sher-Dor conceived by an architect in style "kosh"(composition of two opposing buildings).
Sher-Dor madrasah was built two hundred years later than its original. And in spite of the seemingly similar facade, it has a lot of new, characteristic for construction techniques of the 17th century, which, along with progressive techniques that accelerate and reduce the cost of the construction process, a certain decrease in the quality of artistic expression. However, the color scheme and execution of individual panel tell us about the great skill of the builders who erected this magnificent building.
Its layout repeats the general composition of the Ulugbek madrasah, but there is a difference in the details. Of particular interest is the tympanum over the large portal arch. A golden ocher tiger rushes for white deer... The sun is depicted in the form of a white disk, with slanted almond-shaped eyes. His face is bordered with a golden glow. The whole composition is set against a blue background with spiral shoots of turquoise and golden tones with white flowers scattered across the field. The memorable drawing of the tympanum determined the name of the Sher-Dor madrasah, which means "Decorated with tigers".
The tympanum was saved from complete destruction by restorers who finished the work in 1962. Researchers collected the decor in tiny pieces. Where the mosaic was not preserved, nests from the pieces that had fallen out were fixed, the remaining parts from one half of the tympanum were superimposed on the other so that the pattern was symmetrical.
After finishing the construction of the Sher-Dor madrasah, Yalangtush-Bahadur ten years later began the construction of the madrasah-mosque, which later became known as Tillya-Kari. It was under construction not less 14-15 years old.
The remarkable ensemble of the Registan was finally formed with the construction of Tilla-Kari. In order to achieve the unity and integrity of all the structures of the square, the architect subordinated the architecture of the Tilla-Kari madrasah to the already existing buildings and stretched the facade in such a way as to visually closed space... Such a solution could have been proposed by an architect with great skill.
It seemed that the mosque should have taken central place in the general composition of the madrasah-mosque, but the architect did not go to create another center on a symmetrical square. Architecture the front part of Tilla-Kari is perceived as a worthy background to two madrasahs located opposite each other. The mosque is compositionally knocked off the main axis and is located on the western side of a closed courtyard with hujras on one floor. The main facade is designed in two floors, which helps to balance the large-volume buildings of the Ulugbek and Sher-Dor madrasahs.
Main input portal facing the square, cut through a deep pentahedral niche with two entrances leading to a large enclosed courtyard. The symmetry of the composition in the courtyard is emphasized by small portals in the centers of the courtyard facades. There is a large mosque to the left of the entrance along the western façade. Across the main entrance in the portal niche you can get to the central hall of the mosque, the area of which is increased by opening the side walls arched-domed gallery adjacent to the mosque on both sides. Opposite the entrance there is a mihrab faced with marble, next to the mihrab is a niche pointing to Mecca, and to the right of it is a kind of pulpit (minbar - a place for a preacher) with high marble steps. The courtyard of the mosque is also used for Friday prayers.
The interior of the mosque used painting kundal(multicolor technique, with gilded painting on a relief ornament). Excessive saturation of the central hall of the mosque with relief paintings and gilding, right down to its population on marble panels, testifies to the desire to amaze with luxury and wealth. The abundance of gilding determined the name of the madrasah - Tillya-Kari, which means "Covered with gold".
Cladding madrasah was mostly lost. The restorers had to work hard to save surviving fragments and use them to restore the destroyed parts. In 1979, work was completed to restore the gilding of the painting in the interior of the mosque. Between madrasah Sher-Dor and Tilla-Corey is located a monumental marble headstone- Dakhma Sheybanidov, in due time established over the family tomb the first Uzbek dynasty XVI century.
Registan (Uzbekistan) - description, history, location. The exact address, phone, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
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Registan Square, the "heart" of ancient Samarkand, is probably the most famous landmark of the city, and indeed of the whole of Central Asia. Perhaps it is difficult to find a place as beautiful as it is historically important. The eyes of amazed travelers are invariably attracted by the bright blue domes of mosques, graceful tall minarets and monumental portals richly decorated with mosaics, paintings and even gilding. Three madrasahs are concentrated here, which were built at different times, and each of them is beautiful and remarkable in its own way. It is impossible to visit this ancient, sun-dried square, and not to feel the majestic breath of antiquity, to feel the spirit of bygone days, in a word, to literally touch history. No wonder this magnificent ensemble is considered the pride of not only Samarkand, but the whole of Uzbekistan.
There is a terrible and beautiful legend about Registan Square among the locals. They say that from the 15th century until the arrival of Russian troops, that is, until the end of the 19th century, public executions took place here. Since during this terrible action the whole area was covered with blood, sand was sprinkled on it so that the blood was better absorbed. Actually, the name itself speaks in support of this version - Registan, which translated into Russian means “a place covered with sand”. Of course, the ancient square existed not only for executions. It was crowded here when the decrees of the rulers were read.
Interestingly, magnificent monuments of medieval architecture, included because of their value in the UNESCO World Heritage List, appeared on the Registan at different times, mainly during the 15-17 centuries.
The square is widely known primarily for its famous ensemble of three madrasahs (theological schools) - Tillya-Kari, Ulugbek and Sherdor. The first of these majestic giants on the square paved with bricks and sprinkled with sand at that time was the Ulugbek madrasah.
It is impossible to visit this ancient, sun-dried square, and not to feel the majestic breath of antiquity, to feel the spirit of bygone days, in a word, to literally touch history.
Ulugbek madrasah
It happened in 1417-1420. on the orders of Timur's grandson, for his wisdom was nicknamed Ulugbek ("the great ruler"). Willy-nilly, this building inspires respect. Among the locals there is such a saying about madrasah: that it is so heavy that even the earth's ridge is bursting with its load. Miraculously, this gigantic object has survived to this day in almost its original form. The majestic portal, which rises on the square, is decorated with a beautiful-looking pointed arch, bright and ornate mosaics, majolica tiles, and carved marble. The facade of the Ulugbek madrasah is painted with very fine calligraphic letters. These inscriptions are mainly quotes from the Koran and praise of the wise ruler Ulugbek, who paid a lot of attention to the development of science and patronized young and not so scientists.
High minarets on the sides and beautiful blue domes are considered an obligatory element of the madrasah. Naturally, they are also decorated with traditional mosaics. Inside there is a mosque, lecture halls, and cells where novices lived.
At one time, the Ulugbek madrasah was considered the best university in the Islamic East.
Madrasah Sherdor
Madrasah Sherdor, or in translation into Russian "abode of lions", was built much later than Ulugbek madrasah. Construction of the building began in 1619 and ended in 1636, and was carried out under the direction of the architect Abdul Jabbar. It is not known how good this architect was in business, who took on a rather difficult task - to repeat the Ulugbek madrasah, but, apparently, something went wrong with the proportions and the original building did not stand for several decades. Although the madrasah did not completely collapse, it began to look shabby. Restoration and restoration work began here only at the beginning of the 20th century. Thanks to the delicate and painstaking work of restorers and architects, by the 1960s of the last century it was possible to restore almost the entire architectural ensemble of the Sherdor madrasah. Today, visitors are greeted by a portal decorated with a symbol of power - a leopard that carries the sun on its back, the image of a swastika and the inscription "God Almighty!" The walls of the madrasah are dotted with quotes from the Koran, decorations made with mosaics, glazed bricks, and the bright turquoise of the domes, which sometimes seems even brighter than the sky itself, cannot leave anyone indifferent.
The arches in the courtyard of the theological school are covered with exquisite floral designs in the traditional style. But in order for the students not to be distracted from teaching and prayer, the rooms in which they lived are decorated very austerely: here, apart from white walls, it is rather difficult for the eye to catch on to anything, especially after the splendor and riot of colors that can be observed from the outside. ...
Tillya-Kari Madrasah
The next oldest building is called the Tilla-Kari madrasah, which means “trimmed with gold”. Its construction began in 1646 at the place where the foundation remained from the ancient times of Ulugbek's rule, which served as the basis for the Mirzoi caravanserai. The main facade of the building overlooks the square and consists, in fact, of a portal and two wings with two floors of hujras and corner towers. The courtyard is square and surrounded on all sides by galleries and residential floors.
It is not by chance that this madrasah is called “covered with gold”; indeed, the walls and vaults are dotted here not only with traditional painting and mosaic ornaments, but also with abundant gilding. At one time, a special prayer niche, called a mihrab, and an elevation for the imam, a minbar, were covered with gilding. However, at the beginning of the 19th century, a strong earthquake happened in Samarkand, which destroyed the already heavily collapsing main portal of the madrasah. Restoration began here in the first quarter of the 20th century. Both the buildings and their unique ornament were restored, all work was carried out in compliance with traditional technologies, which helped to organically fit new elements to those that already existed.
The final restoration work was completed in the late 50s, due to which today we can see the "gold-trimmed" madrasah almost in the same form as it appeared before the surprised residents of Samarkand several hundred years ago.
Registan
Mausoleum of Sheibanids, Chorsu dome and other sights of Registan
Despite all the delights of the madrasah, the attractions of the Registan Square are not limited to them. The attention of tourists is attracted, for example, by the famous Sheibanid mausoleum, which contains a huge number of ancient burials. The family tomb of representatives of the Sheibani clan, a dynasty that replaced the Timurids who ruled here for a long time - the descendants of the famous conqueror and ruler Tamerlane. Another object not deprived of attention is the Chorsu trade dome, built in the distant 15th century, but rebuilt almost 300 years later. In 2005, the restoration of this architectural gem, and today the Chorsu dome appears to us refreshed, but not rejuvenated. There is a gallery inside visual arts, the collection of which consists of the works of Uzbek artists and sculptors.
Twice a year, this ancient square hosts a grandiose music festival "Sharq taronalari", which means "Melodies of the East". To this beautiful and interesting event musicians and singers from all over Asia come. In addition, other festive events are regularly held here, and on weekdays there is a brisk bargaining, so we can safely say that Registan Square has not gone down in history, but continues to live on as usual.
They disappeared almost without a trace, and the registries of cities like Karshi are quite modest. The name itself is usually translated as "sandy place", "wasteland" (that is, the Field of Mars is the Peteburgsky registan), but there is another version that elevates "reg" to "rex" - then this is the Tsar's place. Well, there is only one Registan with a capital letter, and he is in Samarkand. And to begin with - the world famous view, like Red Square with St. Basil the Blessed, like the Great Chinese Wall on the Badalina hills, like a panorama of Florence with the tiled dome of Santa Maria del Fiore ... From left to right there are three madrasahs: Ulugbek (1419-27), Tilla-Kari, or Gilded (1646-60) and Sher-Dor, or Lion's (1619-36). The ensemble, perfect not only for its buildings, but also for their location: ayvans of two madrasahs on one axis, which is divided exactly in half by the axis of symmetry of the third madrasah, and above all this there are two blue domes almost equally shifted to the right. The size of the square itself is 100 by 60 meters, and the entrance to it is paid - 12 thousand soums, that is, about 130 rubles, as in the rest of the main museums of Samarkand.
Although Samarkand is famous for the architecture of the Timurids, nothing here belongs to the times of Tamerlane, and Sher-Dor and Tillya-Kari are even the 17th century, the era of the Ashtarkhanids - the dynasty of descendants of the rulers of Astrakhan that ruled in Bukhara: their architecture was incredibly pretentious, since it was ten more dense than the highest baroque in Europe.
And on the frame below there are fragments of tiles and a plan of the Registan before the last reconstruction. The Alike Kukeltash mosque (in our words, Alik Chekista - "kukeltash" was called the khan responsible for the security) has been known since the 13th century, probably from it the city began to be rebuilt in a new place after the invasion of Genghis Khan, and was something like - a yard measuring 90 by 60 meters with hundreds of domes above the galleries. The other three buildings were already built by Ulugbek: a khanaka with an unusually high dome, a semi-wooden Carved mosque (Mukatta) and a caravanserai, reminiscent of the fact that Registan has always been primarily a bargain:
But only the Ulugbek madrasah has survived, one of the three built by the Khan-scientist - the other two are in Bukhara and the "city of potters", and the Bukhara one is older in time of foundation, but younger in time of completion. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Samarkand madrasah lay in ruins, peeling and one-story, and the current appearance is the result of decades of Soviet restoration:
The minarets in all 4 corners are impressive: one is standing straight, the other has a stump, the third has lost its head and looks like a factory chimney, the fourth is tilted. A man who is on duty at the checkout counter leads semi-legally ... in principle, there are similar bonus-levels on many attractions, for example, theoretically, there is a man who leads to his abandoned part, but I was not lucky to meet such a thing there. The payment was piecework, at first they set a price of 22 thousand soums, and although they warned me before the trip that more than 10 did not need to be given, I could not drop the price below 17 thousand.
They lead to the right, tilted minaret, and what is surprising is that it does not have a platform, you just lean out of the hatch to your waist and look at the sides. Here is the same, only without a hatch, the top of the left minaret, "straightened" by restorers in 1965:
I showed the views of the city in the last part, but here and not in a row I will show only views of the Registan itself. The weakest thing in its ensemble is that it has lost its context - a hundred years ago there were clay shacks and benches around, and now there are squares altogether. The Registan opens to the south, towards the distant mountains of the Zerafshan ridge, and pay attention to the stage and gentle steps - in the evenings there are light and music performances "I am Registan" with the dialogue of 3 madrasahs; in Russian they are rare, and they say they are pretty outdated. One day I could easily go to look at this action from behind the stands, but I was too lazy:
The Ulugbek Madrasah itself. Its size is 81 by 51 meters, despite the fact that the yard is only 30 by 30. It is inferior to the largest in Central Asia (with other proportions) along the perimeter by only a couple of meters, but almost three times - in the number of cells (50) and students (respectively 100 ), since for everyone there was much more space and apparently training time:
The courtyard of the madrasah. All the buildings of Registan now combine the roles of a museum and a souvenir bazaar. The second floor was completely recreated under the Soviets - at the end of the 18th century it was demolished by the Bukhara governor, considering it a convenient platform for shelling his palace, and the rest of the building was seriously broken by two earthquakes at the beginning and end of the 19th century.
Cells on the second floor. In terms of taking care of the comfort of students, the medieval madrasah will clearly give odds to the hostels of many modern universities.
The aivan portal is even more enchantingly beautiful, to which the Ulugbek madrasah has:
A side hall, possibly a former house mosque, where today is an Afghan carpet shop from the first part:
Sher-Dor is slightly inferior to the Ulugbek madrasah in size (70 by 56 meters), but his cells (of which either 54 or 48 - he himself did not count, they write differently) were single, the scale of the building is not at all commensurate with the number of students. it is in its purest form a memorial house. But nevertheless, outstanding personalities were found here - though not an Uzbek, but a Tatar, theologian and enlightener of the 19th century Shigabudtin Mardzhani, after whom the oldest mosque of Kazan is named there.
The axis of symmetry of the kosh madrasah:
Ivan from the back side, 180 degrees from the previous two frames:
And I don’t remember where this aivan was, but it’s definitely in the courtyard of Sherdor:
In any text about Samarkand antiquity, they will say that Sherdor is larger than Ulugbek's madrasah, but inferior to him in the perfection of decoration, however, Sherdor seemed more beautiful to me and was remembered as the most spectacular building in Central Asia. Perhaps because, due to its younger age, it is better preserved, and it contains more authentic elements. Ornaments dance and pop in your ears like fireworks.
But where can we go without trade? White walls - like, in the corridors at the exit and that gilded hall:
The third Tilla-Kari madrasah was built later than the others and was not included in the kosh, therefore it looks completely different. Moreover, purely in size (75 by 75 meters) it is larger than the Khiva madrassah of Muhammad Amin ... but again, it is not the "largest madrasah of Turkestan", since it is not quite a madrasah - in fact, it was a Juma mosque with an educational building attached to it , built to replace the grandiose Tamerlane Bibi-Khanum (1399-1405), which by that time had fallen into disrepair - it, also restored under the Soviets, is visible here in the background:
Tilla-Kari facade:
And the view from the arch to the "lookout" of the Ulugbek minaret. Here the architecture is already much more Bukharian, Ashtarkhanid, especially the tiled spirals in the corners:
The same facade from the back:
I don’t know what kind of columns - perhaps fragments of the “pre-Yalangtushev” buildings of Registan?
In general, there is also a natural square, and under the blue dome is the Juma Mosque itself:
And that's why the madrasah is called Gilded!
This is, if not the most beautiful, then certainly the most luxurious interior of Central Asia:
It seems that many of its details glow, although in reality they only shine:
In the corridors, the decor is already more modest, or rather it is simply not there. The exhibits under glass, Timurid tiles and ceramics, are adjacent to things for sale, such as the reference Urgut suzane on the left:
In one of them, there was not a souvenir, but a grocery kiosk with a suzane on the ceiling, and a bottle of lemonade or mineral water for me is the most relevant in the Central Asian sun of all souvenirs:
Till-Kari has the most spectacular and external walls:
And in the corner between him and Sherdor there was a dakhma of the Sheibanids. "Dakhma" in this case is not a Zoroastrian "tower of silence", but a podium for tombstones, the Sheibanids are the Uzbek dynasty that replaced the Timurids in the 16th century. Khan Ubaydulla moved the capital to Bukhara in 1533, setting up the main necropolis there near the Naqshbandi mausoleum, but their parallel branch ruled in Samarkand, and as I understand it, on the dakhma are the graves of the emirs of Samarkand, and along the wall - their numerous relatives:
Another building in the neighborhood is the local Chorsu, a shopping mall, it can be seen behind the Sherdor minaret in photo # 14. "Chor-su" means "Four streams", that is, allegorically Confluence or Crossroads, and they were usually built in the center of the city system of ditches. For a change, a pre-revolutionary look - such was the Registan at the beginning of the twentieth century, Chorsu is clearly visible:
On the site of the bazaar there is now a public garden, and Chorsu serves as an exhibition gallery:
The same place as in the pre-revolutionary frame. On the left, behind the Chorsu dome, Sherdor and Ulugbek madrasahs with a line of three tilted minarets, and on the right, Tillya-Kari:
Sher-Dor and Ulugbek on the other side and at dusk:
They, only there was Sherdor in the front, and here - Ulugbek's madrasah:
The best "casual" view of the Registan is from the beginning of the pedestrian bridge across the noisy Dagbitskaya street (named, by the way, after the village where Yalangtush is buried) in the former Kok-Saray - Tamerlane's Blue Palace. From here, the Registan looks like a whole forest of minarets, like a miracle factory that produces magic lamps for genies and kladenets swords from adamant steel:
And this is how Registan looks from the edge of the selva of the mahalla, and it seems from this side it is least often seen by tourists. However, this is the weakness of the Registan ensemble - it is designed to look only from one side, and from any other it loses its harmony:
We will walk a little in the surrounding squares. A nice carved ice cream stand is probably familiar to passengers of Soviet tourist trains. It is so popular that by the evening there is not enough ice cream for everyone, and therefore I did not join here:
A strange thought with lions "at which everyone is photographed":
A small mausoleum of Abu Mansur Matirudi stands modestly in the corner of the square ... however, perhaps this is a mistake, since this saint, the theologian of the 9-10th centuries from Samarkand, known throughout the Islamic world, can hardly be buried so modestly, and the memorial to his name there is also an old cemetery closer to the outskirts. Maybe it's just a namesake? I saw a lot of such mausoleums in Bukhara and Khiva on dusty streets, and here he is among the park and new buildings:
The new buildings themselves at the junction of local architecture with constructivism (!) Form a whole trading town, on its edge they sell flatbreads, and in one of the pavilions there was still ice cream - as already mentioned in the last part, the most delicious in my memory.
Finally, we will walk along Registan Street, which descends from the hill here. In the neighborhoods adjacent to the square there is also a rather large rookery of collective taxis, from here I left for both with the Frenchman Fabrice, and for Shakhrisabz with Lida abyaneh and Sasha. A structure similar to a madrasah just opposite the Registan on Wikimapia is listed as an art gallery and a house of artists - I don't know if this is a good stylization or if it really is a former madrasah of the 18th century. Pay attention also to the store in the window of the five-story building:
I don’t really remember where these Stalinists are, but it seems to be also on the Registanskaya. Yes, Samarkand is not Bukhara or Khiva, there is no untouched pre-Russian environment here, and around Registan there are mainly Khrushchevs and the private sector:
Somehow, there was a house here, where under the Soviets, but before the construction of Dushanbe (which took over the role of the center of Tajik culture from Samarkand), Sadriddin Aini lived - the largest Tajik writer of the 20th century, a revolutionary and fighter against Pan-Turkism (or rather, the involvement of Tajiks in it). In his work, however, Bukhara is better revealed, in the descriptions of which I even quoted him:
Mosaic in the park:
And a nice panel of a five-story building at the beginning of a wide square on the same Dagbitskaya street. On a hill in the distance of the Registan tower, on a hill to the left of the frame, there are ruins of Tamerlane's palace Kok-Saray, on a hill to the right of the frame - Tamerlane's mausoleum Gur-Emir, and behind the back begins Russian Samarkand. The real center is here, not in the Registan:
But more on that in the next part.
SAMARKAND-2015
and .
Tashkent, Bukhara, Khorezm - see the table of contents.
... Meetings on the road.
Samarkand.
... History, color, traditions, crafts.
Registan.
Kuk-Saroy and Gur-Emir. City center.
From Registan to Siab Bazaar.
Afrosiab and surroundings.
Mahallas of the peoples.
Antiquities on the outskirts.
Russian Samarkand. Station and temples.
Russian Samarkand. Houses and streets.
Samarkand outskirts.
.
.
Pass Takhta-Karachach and descent to Kashkadarya.
Southern Uzbekistan- there will be a separate series.
The Samarkand Registan is one of the most outstanding examples of urban planning art in the entire feudal East. The front facades of all three madrasahs close the square, but the square itself is actively included in the composition. The mutual balance of all three buildings, the grandeur of architectural forms, richness, variety of decor merge in a solemn chord. Everything here is so much in line with the inner meaning and social purpose of the main square. big city, which can rightfully be called the Registan forum of Samarkand.
The problem of the urban ensemble was one of the most important in the architecture of Samarkand in the 15th century. Monumental ensembles determined its main compositional nodes and, as it were, set high-rise accents in its silhouette.
The creative genius of a large team of skilful architects, masons, specialists in decorative finishing has enriched them with many magnificent, richly decorated buildings. The achievements of this era affected the solution of large urban planning tasks, the development of complex, complex buildings, the movement of constructive and technical thought caused by the scale of the construction tasks themselves, the development and improvement of architectural decor techniques, and finally, the formation of a new architectural style, the emergence of which was already felt by the contemporaries themselves.
The tendencies of this style were continued in the first half of the 15th century, having received their classical completeness under Ulugbek.
The center of Timurid Samarkand is formed during the reign of Ulugbek - Registan square, lying at the intersection of six main city highways. Before that, it was squeezed by trade and craft districts and only a round market passage - Tim Tuman-aka singled out this important area of the capital city. During the second - fourth decades of the 15th century. here is a complete redevelopment. Tim was dismantled and, since he was granted to the waqf by the organizer, he was rebuilt in another place. The squares were given a rectangular plan. The first building erected on its western side was Ulugbek madrasah ... Of all the buildings that formed the Registan in the 15th century, this building alone, with significant losses, has survived to this day.
Ulugbek Madrasah (1417 - 1420 )
Ulugbek madrasah architecturally is a classic example of this kind of higher educational institutions of the Muslim East. Rectangular in plan, with a closed square courtyard, on the axes of which there are deep vaulted ayvans that served as summer auditoriums, it was surrounded by two floors of cells-hujras, facing the courtyard with vaulted balconies. In the corners there were cross-shaped auditoriums-darskhans, and in the western part - an oblong mosque. Three entrances - one on the main and two on the transverse axis - led to the courtyard. The corners are flanked by slender minarets - two-tier, and possibly, as in contemporary Herat buildings, and three-tier. The main, eastern facade, facing the square, is highlighted by a slender pestak with a deep vaulted niche; the sections of the walls between them and the minarets are designed with two-tiered wall arches. The side facades are smooth and bear a large geometric pattern. The proportions of all architectural forms in the Ulugbek madrasah are surprisingly harmonious, proportions are slender, the decor is rich, varied, but not colorful. Layouts of colored glazed bricks against a background of building bricks, multi-colored majolica and mosaics, carved marble form a single artistic whole. In ornamentation, star-shaped girikhs and inscriptions predominate, perhaps this indirectly reflects the educational tendencies of Ulugbek and his passion for astronomy.
Rebuilt as a higher spiritual educational institution, the madrasah actually became the center of secular scientific thought. In its auditoriums, not only lectures on theology were read, but also on astronomy, philosophy, mathematics. Among the lecturers were Kazy-Zade-Rumi, Ulugbek himself.
The founder of Uzbek classical literature, Alisher Navoi, studied at the Ulugbek madrasah. Alisher Navoi is a great Uzbek poet. Having absorbed the best traditions of Tajik, Persian and Azerbaijani literature, having a perfect command of Persian and Arabic, he at the same time endlessly loved the Uzbek language, which he brought to great perfection in his works. He created such great classical creations of Uzbek literature as "Farhad and Shirin", "Leyli and Majnun" and others. In poetry, he was an unsurpassed master of apt words, graceful expression and vivid image. Being a man of the feudal era, which left an imprint on his entire life, he, at the same time, was much higher than his contemporaries, even the most prominent of them, was imbued with progressive ideas.
Ulugbek madrasah has a square courtyard (33 x 33 m), around which there are 28 cells-hujras on two floors, each designed for two students.
The madrasah suffered significantly during the troubles and events in the 20s of the 18th century. The second floor and outer domes were destroyed.
Both minarets in the Ulugbek madrasah straightened, as both threatened to collapse. The right, north-western one was straightened in 1932 according to the project of engineer Shukhov. The top of the minaret deviated from its normal position by 180 cm with a total height of the minaret of 33 m. With the help of a special lifting screw-jack, the minaret was brought to its previous vertical position.
On February 17, 1965, the southeastern minaret, which was called “falling” even in guidebooks, was also straightened. This unique task was solved by a team of Samarkand restorers under the guidance of the author of the straightening project E. Handel.
In 1424, a khanaka of Ulugbek was erected opposite the madrasah, at the south-western corner of which the long-revered grave of Imam-Jafar was located. The expanded facade and slender minarets of the madrasah were opposed by the compact and strong volume of the khanaka, highlighted by the entrance portal and crowned with a huge dome, which Babur, not prone to exaggeration, calls "the largest in the world."
The northern side of the Registan Square was closed by the Mirzoi caravanserai, the layout of which in the 17th century. in many respects repeated the Tilla-Kari madrasah. It included a spacious courtyard surrounded by awnings and hujras and was, apparently, decorated along the main facade with an entrance pestak and corner turrets.
South of the Registan in the 30s of the 15th century. the prominent nobleman Alike Kukeltash, Shakhrukh's tutor, apparently erected a new Juma mosque on the site of the decaying pre-Mongol mosque. It had a rectangular plan (about 90x60 m), included an elongated courtyard surrounded by galleries with 210 domes based on brick abutments and stone columns, fragments of which were found in 1936 during excavation work during the breakdown of the Registan Square. Nearby there was another, small in size, mosque - Masjidi-Mukatta ("Carved"), which owes its name to the exquisite decoration of its walls and ceilings with carved wood.
The combination of various buildings (this also included the water mirror of the khauz and, probably, the greenery of tree plantations), subordinated to a certain compositional idea, formed the central architectural ensemble of Timurid Samarkand, which was not similar in the entire Muslim East.
Sheibanids
A new dynasty that replaced the Timurids, and got its name from the ancestor of Muhammad, ruled the country from the time of the accession of Sheibani Khan with a short break until the end of the 16th century. With the transfer of the capital of the state to Bukhara, the Sheibanids lose interest in the development of Samarkand. And although the official historiography tells that Abdullah Khan in 1581 and 1587 gave orders for the repair of buildings, the Samarkand source of the 17th century is obviously more objective, which reports that Abdullah Khan, on the contrary, was guilty of the destruction of some buildings. Be that as it may, by the end of the XVI century. the khanaka of Ulugbek and the Jami Mosque of Alik Kukeltash were in a dilapidated state, which could not but violate the integrity of the architectural ensemble that had developed near the Registan Square.
In the XVII century. construction activity revives again in Samarkand. Several madrasahs, mausoleums, mosques were built.
At the time of the growing separatism of appanage rulers and the weakening of the central khan's power in Central Asia, the role of strong Uzbek families is growing. Yalangtush Bahadur, whom Imamkuli Khan appointed to the post of khakim (ruler) of Samarkand, was a prominent military leader, famous not only for his victories, but also for the cruelty of reprisals against the vanquished.
Registan(Uzbek Registon; from reg - sand and mill - place; literally - sandy place) - an area in the center of Samarkand. The main (front) squares in the cities of the Middle East were called "Registan". Samarkand Square is the most famous register due to the famous architectural ensemble of the 15th-17th centuries located on it, the center of which is Ulugbek Madrasah (1417-1420), Sherdor Madrasah (1619-1636) and Tilla-Kari Madrasah (1646-1660). The ensemble of three madrasahs is a unique example of the art of urban planning and a wonderful example of the architectural design of the main square of the city. It is one of the clearest examples of Persian architecture. In 2001, this ensemble, along with other ancient historical buildings of Samarkand, was included in the List World heritage UNESCO.
Ulugbek madrasah
Ulugbek Madrasah on Registan Square
Ulugbek madrasah is the oldest madrasah on Registan Square and was built in 1417-1420. ruler of the Timurid state and astronomer Ulugbek. The construction of this structure, and a little later the observatory, brought Samarkand the glory of one of the main centers of science in the medieval East.
The madrasah was built in the western part of the Registan square, opposite it a few years later the khanaka of Ulugbek was erected, and the northern side was occupied by a caravanserai. The last two buildings stood for about two centuries, and then in their place at the beginning of the 17th century there appeared the Sherdor madrasah and the Tilla-Kari madrasah that have survived to this day.
The madrasah, rectangular in plan, had four ayvans and a square courtyard, along the perimeter of which there were deep niches leading to two-tier cells where students lived. The back side of the courtyard was occupied by a mosque, four domes towered over the corner classrooms of the madrasah, and four minarets were located in the corners of the building. The building faces the square with a majestic eastern portal with a high pointed arch, above which there is a mosaic panel with geometric patterns, made of colored bricks, glazed and carved ceramics.
Ulugbek Madrasah was one of the best spiritual universities of the Muslim East of the 15th century. According to legend, the famous poet, scientist and philosopher Abdurahman Jami studied there. The educational institution read lectures on mathematics, geometry, logic, natural sciences, collections of teachings about man and the world soul and theology, and were read by famous scientists of that time: Kazi-zade ar-Rumi, Djemshid Giyas ad-Din Al-Kashi, Al- Kushchi, as well as Ulugbek himself.
Madrasah Sherdor
Fragment of a mosaic on the portal of the Sherdor madrasah depicting a leopard with the sun on its back
Madrasah Sherdor was built on the site of Ulugbek's khanaka, which arose in 1424 in the eastern part of the square opposite Ulugbek's madrasah. By the beginning of the 17th century, the khanaka, along with other buildings of the square, was dilapidated and fell into disrepair. By order of the ruler of Samarkand, Yalangtush Bahadur, the construction of the Sherdor and Tilla-Kari madrasahs began. Madrasah Sherdor (madrasah "with tigers", "Abode of lions") was erected by an architect named Abdul-Jabbar, master of decor Mohammed Abbas.
Madrasah Sherdor almost mirrors the one standing opposite Ulugbek madrasah, albeit in distorted proportions. It is distinguished by an exorbitantly large dome, which could have caused the gradual destruction of the building several decades after its construction. The walls of the madrasah are covered with quotes from the Koran, the entrance portal depicts the coat of arms of Samarkand - leopards with the sun on their backs, a swastika is placed in the center of the arch, and at the top it is written in a special Arabic script “ The Lord is Almighty!". The decoration of the external and internal facades is made of glazed bricks, mosaic sets and paintings with an abundance of gilding. The decoration of the Sherdor madrasah is noticeably inferior in sophistication to the Ulugbek madrasah, erected in the 15th century, which was the "golden age" of Samarkand architecture. Nevertheless, the harmony of large and small forms, an elegant mosaic pattern, monumentality, clarity of symmetry - all this puts the madrasah on a par with the best architectural monuments cities.
Tillya-Kari Madrasah
Tillya Kari Madrasah
Tillya-Kari Madrasah was erected in the northern part of the square ten years after the Sherdor madrasah on the site of the caravanserai of the 1420s. The main façade of the square building is symmetrical and consists of a central portal and two-tier frontal wings with arched niches and corner towers. The spacious courtyard is built up along the perimeter with small residential cells, hujrami... On the western side of the courtyard there is a domed mosque with two adjacent galleries on pillars.
The madrasah building is richly decorated with mosaics and majolica with geometric and floral designs. In the interior decoration, gilding is abundantly used, which gave the name to the madrasah, which means “trimmed with gold”. The mosque has gilded mihrab and minbar, the surface of the walls and vaults are covered with painting kundal with abundant use of gold.
Throughout its history, the Tillya-Kari madrasah was not only a place for students to study, but also served as a cathedral mosque.
Other structures
Mausoleum of Sheibanids
Mausoleum of Sheibanids
To the east of the Tillya-Kari madrasah is the Sheibanid mausoleum, which is a pile of tombstones, the oldest of which dates back to the 16th century. The founder of the Sheibanid state was the grandson of Abul Khair, Mohammed Sheibani, who in 1500, with the support of the Chagatai Khanate, then settled in Tashkent, conquered Samarkand and Bukhara, overthrowing the last rulers from the Timurid dynasty who ruled there. After that, Sheibani turned against his benefactors and in 1503 captured Tashkent. In 1506 he captured Khiva and in 1507 attacked Merv (Turkmenistan), eastern Persia and western Afghanistan. The Sheibanids stopped the advance of the Safavids, who conquered Akkoyunlu (Iran) in 1502. Muhammad Sheibani was the leader of the nomadic Uzbeks. Over the next years, they firmly established themselves in the oases of Central Asia. The Uzbek invasion of the 16th century was the last component in the ethnogenesis of the modern Uzbek nation.
Chorsu Trade Dome
Behind Sherdor Madrasah there is an ancient trading dome Chorsu, confirming the status of the Registan square as shopping center medieval Samarkand. The six-sided domed building that has survived to this day was built in the 15th century, and rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century. In 2005, the merchant dome was refurbished and a three-meter layer of soil was removed to restore the building's full height. Now it houses a gallery of fine arts, where works of Uzbek artists and sculptors are exhibited.
Legends and myths
They say that the name of the square is sandy place- came from the fact that the earth here was covered with sand in order to absorb the blood of the victims of public executions, which were allegedly carried out in this place until the beginning of the 20th century. It is also said that Registan was the place where Tamerlane displayed the heads of his victims, who were impaled on pins, and also the place where people gathered to listen to royal decrees, before the reading of which they loudly trumpeted copper pipes. However, it should be remembered that during the time of Timur, who died in 1405, there were no buildings on that square that are considered masterpieces of oriental architecture.
Gallery
Registan in numismatics
- In 1989, a jubilee 5-ruble coin dedicated to Registan was minted in the USSR.
