Photos of Samarkand: towards the outskirts, Uzbekistan

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Samarkand: towards the outskirts

Just to the north east of the famous Registan is the Bibi-Khanym mosque; in the 15th century this was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world, with a vast 35 metres high parade portal and blue-glazed cupolas. It had been constructed by Timur after his conquest of India in 1399. By the mid-20th century only a grandiose ruin of it still survived, but now major parts of the mosque have been restored. Across the street is the mausoleum of Bibi-Khanym (Bibi Xonum), the oldest wife of Timur, after whom the huge mosque was named.

Bibi-Khanym mausoleum
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque portal
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque cupola
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque portal
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque cupola
 
Stone Qur'an stand
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque cupola
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque dome
 
Inside Bibi-Khanym mosque
 
Inside Bibi-Khanym mosque
 
Inside Bibi-Khanym mosque
 
Bibi-Khanym mosque
 
Bibi-Khanym mausoleum
 
View from Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
Hazrat Khizr mosque
 
View of Muslim Cemetery
 
View of Bibi-Khanym mosque
 
View of Muslim Cemetery
 
Site of Afrasiyab
 
Tomb of Prophet Daniel
 
Healing tree
 
Sarcophagus of Prophet Daniel
 
Ulugh Beg Observatory museum
 
Ulugh Beg Observatory
 
Shah-i-Zinda entrance
 
Emir Zoda Mausoleum
 
Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
 
Tugli Tekin Mausoleum
 
Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
 
Shirin Beka Oqo Mausoleum
 
Shirin Beka Oqo Mausoleum
 
Shirin Beka Oqo Mausoleum
 
Shirin Beka Oqo Mausoleum
 
Ustad Alim Nasafi Mausoleum
 
Ustad Alim Nasafi Mausoleum
 
In Ustad Alim Nasafi Mausoleum
 
Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
 
Hoja Ahmad Yassawi Mausoleum
 
Hoja Ahmad Yassawi Mausoleum
 
Hoja Ahmad Yassawi Mausoleum
 
Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
 
Qusam ibn-Abbas mausoleum
 
Qusam ibn-Abbas mausoleum
 
Navoi Park, Samarkand
 
St. Aleksyi Russian Orthodox Church
 
Amir Timur statue
 
Mubarak mosque
 
Hoja-Nisbatdor Mosque
 
Ishratkhana Mausoleum
 
Ishratkhana Mausoleum
 
Ishratkhana Mausoleum restoration
 
Ishratkhana Mausoleum
 
Hodja Abdi Darun Mausoleum
 
Hodja Abdi Darun Mausoleum
 
Railway station, Samarkand
 

On a hill to the entrance of the city is the Hazrat Khizr Mosque, the first mosque constructed in Samarkand following the Arab conquest of the region. Beyond that is the Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble, a cemetery site with many ornately decorated, colourful tombs and ancient mosaic-tiled mausoleums. Further on is Afrasiyab, the oldest part and the ruined site of the ancient and medieval city of Samarkand. Not far from there, on the banks of the Siob River, is what is claimed to be the tomb of the Old Testament Prophet Daniel: a long, low structure topped with five domes, containing an 18 metre sarcophagus – legend has it that his body grew by half an inch a year and thus the sarcophagus had to be enlarged. Part of his remains, which date to at least the 5th century BCE, were brought here by Timur during his seven-year campaign in Asia Minor (1397-1404), from Susa, Iran. There is also the Ulugh Beg Observatory, built in the 1420s by the Timur's grandson, ruler and astronomer Ulugh Beg and considered by scholars to have been one of the finest observatories in the Islamic world. There are old mosques and mausoleums, like the crumbled Ishratkhana Mausoleum, that is now being restored and bright new decorations painted inside.

To the west of the old city is the new area the Russians built after their conquest in 1864. Here is the St. Aleksyi Russian Orthodox Church and the Navoi Park with its wide foot paths; a large statue of Timur sits at the northern end of it.