The Registan: Samarkand's Majestic Heart of the Silk Road

A wide, daytime view of the Registan square, showing the three grand, tiled madrasahs that frame the large plaza. — Photo by Hans-Jürgen Weinhardt on Unsplash

At the center of Samarkand lies the Registan, an architectural ensemble of breathtaking beauty. The name means "sandy place," a humble description for what was the vibrant heart of the Timurid Empire. Before the three majestic madrasahs that now define the square were built, this was a bustling public plaza where royal proclamations were announced, armies gathered, and merchants bartered their goods.

The first and oldest of the great edifices is the Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417-1420), commissioned by Timur's grandson, Ulugh Beg. A renowned astronomer and scholar, Ulugh Beg turned the madrasah into one of the finest universities in the 15th-century Muslim world, with a curriculum that included theology, mathematics, and astronomy. The grand entrance portal is adorned with ten-pointed stars, a beautiful symbol of the constellations that Ulugh Beg meticulously mapped.

For two centuries, Ulugh Beg's madrasah stood alone. Then, between 1619 and 1636, the governor of Samarkand, Yalangtush Bahadur, commissioned the Sher-Dor, or "Lion-Bearing," Madrasah directly opposite it. Its architects were instructed to mirror the facade of Ulugh Beg's masterpiece, but with a bold addition. The portal features a stunning and controversial mosaic of two large felines, described as lions or tigers, chasing deer under human-faced suns. This depiction of living creatures was a flagrant violation of Islamic artistic tradition and a powerful statement of the governor's authority.

The ensemble was completed with the Tilya-Kori, or "Gold-Covered," Madrasah (1646-1660), also built by Yalangtush Bahadur. It was designed to serve a dual purpose: as a residential college for students and as the city's grand congregational mosque. While its exterior is magnificent, its true treasure lies within the mosque's interior, which is lavishly decorated with brilliant blue tiles and an abundance of gold leaf. Its ceiling, though physically flat, is painted with such masterful perspective that it creates the stunning optical illusion of a grand, soaring dome.