Registan

“Three madrasas around one square, the sky-blue-tiled heart of the Silk Road”

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Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC0

Scenes

The tiled portal of the Sher-Dor madrasa with its lions and sun — The Sher-Dor portalBgag · CC0

The gilded muqarnas glowing inside the Tilya-Kori madrasa — The golden interior of the Tilya-KoriLBM1948 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The iwan portal of a Registan madrasa in raking sunlight, its tiles patterned with stars and flowers — A madrasa's iwan portal in the slanting lightIslomOknazarov · CC BY-SA 4.0

The ceiling of a Registan madrasa woven with blue geometric patterns like stars — A madrasa ceiling woven blue like a night of starsIslomOknazarov · CC BY-SA 4.0

Meaning

Step into the wide square and three madrasas open their great iwan portals, ringing you in sky-blue and gold. Turquoise domes throw back the desert sun, and mosaics woven of stars and flowers fill every wall. You stand at the heart of a city the Silk Road once ran through.

The central square of Timurid Samarkand is understood as an ensemble of three madrasas — Islamic colleges — beginning with the Ulugh Beg madrasa in the 15th century and joined by the Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori in the 17th. Famed for its sky-blue tile, star-and-flower mosaic, and vast iwan portals, it is seen as the place where Silk Road trade and learning met. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Voices across time

“If you doubt our power, look upon what we have built.”
— An inscription tradition ascribes to Timur · 14th century

Roads through this light

The Light of Islam — From al-Andalus to Samarkand, One Light

“The heart of the Silk Road, three madrasas opening their great iwans to ring a square in sky-blue and gold”

Field notes

Location: Samarkand · Uzbekistan · N39.7° · E67.0°
Best time: A clear morning or dusk, when the tilework glows
Getting there: In the old center of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Etiquette: Dress modestly and keep quiet; follow the guidance in prayer and exhibition spaces.

Sources

· UNESCO World Heritage
· Encyclopaedia Britannica

UNESCO World Heritage Wikipedia

Photographs are freely licensed works from Wikimedia Commons and similar sources; the author and license appear beneath each image.