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Shakhrisabz
Shakhrisabz
is a small town south to Samarkand.
First of all, it has to be mentioned
that Shakhrisabz is Timur's home
town, and once once upon a time
it put probably put Samarkand itself
in the shade. Shakhrisabs (which
means Green City) is indeed buried
in verdure of orchards and
vineyards. Architectural landmarks
of Shakhrisabs are at least 500
years old with the famous
Among the highlights of
Shakhrisabz are:
• Ak-Saray Palace - Timur's
summer palace (White Palace) has
as much grandeur per sq cm as anything
in Samarkand. There's actually nothing
left of it except bits of the gigantic,
40-m high entrance, covered with
gorgeous, filigree-like blue, white
and gold mosaics. It was probably
Timur's most ambitious project,
24 years in the making, following
a successful campaign in Khorezm
and the "import" of many
of its finest artisans. It's straggling
to try to imagine what the rest
of it was like, in size and glory.
• Kok-Gumbaz Mosque and Dorut
Tilovat - This big Friday
Mosque was completed by Ulugbek
in 1437 in honour of his father
Shahruh who was a son of Timur.
The name means Blue Dome, though
the luminous outer tiles are long
gone and it's full of pigeons now.
It appears to be under snail' space
restoration. Behind it was the originalburial
complex of Timur's forebears; Dorut
Tilovat (House of Meditation).
• Khazrati-Imam Ensemble -
a few streest east of Kuk-Gombaz
are a few melancholy remnants of
a 70m by 50m mausoleum complex called
Dorut Siadat (Seat of Power &
Might), which Timur finished in
1392 and which may have overshadowed
even the Ak-Saray Palace.
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