“Nuriy Travel”
A.Kahhar st. 6 apt., 57,
Great people were born, lived and died in Uzbekistan's territory. In memory of those people and their good deeds, many mausoleums were build where their tombs are kept. These place are sacred and proper manners should be followed. For example,
- shoes must be removed when entering
- women should cover their head with a cloth
- minimum of skin should be visible
For more manner hints, refer to MUST-KNOW.
Guri Amir - Samarkand
'Should the sky disappear, the dome will replace it', a poet on glimpsing cupola atop Amir Timur's mausoleum Guri Amir says. This is the Tomb of the Ruler, a few minutes' walk from the Hotel Samarkand.
Between 1400 and 1401 his favorite grandson, Mohammed Sultan, erected a madrassah and khanagha complex here. Mohammed's death in 1403 prompted Amir Timur to complete the ensemble with a mausoleum. Spanish envoy Clavijo reported how the ageing emir, carried to the site in late 1404, had demanded it rebuilt with added grandeur in only ten days 'under threat of a terrible forfeit to the workmen'. Although he intended burial in his hometown Shakhrisabz, Amir Timur was soon laid to rest beside his grandson and followed by descendants down to Ulugbek, whose presence has spurred recent restoration.
Mohammed Sultan's blue-tiled portal opens onto a courtyard once cornered with minarets and flanked by madrassah and khanagha. Today only the foundations survive. Their absence emphasizes the simple monumentality of the Guri Amir itself, based on an octagonal chamber decorated with geometric girikh. Above it, belting the tall, cylindrical drum, the inscription 'God is Immortal' thunders in white Kufic script three meters high. Crowning the building in fluted majesty is the sky-blue dome, gently swelling to a height of over 32 meters. Across its 64 ribs spreads a skin colored glazed tile in a continuous lozenge pattern. Yellow and green offset turquoise, blue as light and shade play with mosaic hue. Just as spectacular is the mausoleum interior, reached via the eastern gallery added by Ulugbek.
Hexagonal onyx tiles lend the lower walls a greenish translucence, topped by Qo'ranic inscriptions carved in marble and painted on jasper. Geometric panels shine with radiating stars, beside niches hung with stalactites molded from paper-mache painted blue and gold. The inner dome drips an intricate gilded coating around high lattice windows. Enclosed by a marble rail, seven marble tombstones encircle a dark-green slab 1.8 meters long, once the largest piece of jade in the world. The split is blamed on Persian invader Nadir Shah who tried to remove it in 1740.
Amir Timur lies as requested at the feet of his spiritual adviser Mir Sayid Barakah. In clockwise order are Mohammed Sultan, Ulugbek, Tamerlane's sons Shahrukh and Miranshah, and two unnamed children. The horsehair pole marks the grave of a holy man, whose remains were discovered when the mausoleum was under construction. The emblem was a common sight on the hard pilgrimage to Mecca. These tombstones are actually cenotaphs matching the layout of the real graves in the vaulted crypt below, which is usually closed to visitors.
In the courtyard stands a great marble block carved in arabesques and known as the Kok Tash (Blue Stone). Historians discredit the belief that this was Amir Timur's throne. But from the 17th century it was certainly used as coronation stone by the Bukharan emirs. Stories claim the nearby bowl was Timur's bath for pre-prayer ablutions or even a gauge of military loss before battle each soldier squeezed pomegranate juice into it. Once the survivors had drunk, the residue determined the number of fallen.
Imam Al-Bukhoriy Mausoleum - Samarkand
Located 30 km from Samarkand, the Imam al-Bukhari complex is a splendid construction which was built in accordance with modern technologies, but at the same time has preserved its eastern architecture. Earlier in the 16th century a mosque was built close to the mausoleum. One can enter the complex through the entrance portal, which is decorated with carved gates. The memorable slabs with Arabic and Latin graphics about the construction of the complex are established on each side of the main entrance.
The Ismail al-Bukhari mausoleum stands on the central axis in the form of a rectangular prism, which is square at the foundation (the area is 9x9 m and the height is 17 m). The dome of the mausoleum is double, ribbed and decorated with blue tiles. The walls are decorated with mosaics, majolica, ganch, onyx and granite with a vegetative and geometric ornament. In the centre of the mausoleum is a tombstone coated with light green onyx.
The mosque, the khanaka and the gallery (with an area of 786 squared m) for 1500 believers to pray simultaneously are on the left side of the yard. On the right side there is a library and a museum with rare samples of manuscripts and lithographed books on Islamic theology as well as gifts of statesmen of different countries, including a piece of kisva - a coverlet from the Kaaba in Mecca.
Behind the mausoleum is an educational center for hadith study. In the centre of the courtyard is a reservoir - haouz - with ancient palm trees and a spring of healing water.
Shakhi-Zinda Burial Vault
Not far from Bibi Khanum mosque there is one of the most mysterious and unique architectural monuments of Samarkand, Shah-i-Zinda complex. It consists of rows of refine sparkling blue colors tombs. Harmoniously combined in a lively and moving composition, various mausoleums are grouped along the narrow medieval streets. Shahi Zinda consists of eleven mausoleums, which were built one after another in XIV - XV centuries.
A unique ensemble of ancient tombs (1370-1449 years) is located near Afrasiab settlement . It is also called "Street cemetery". Building of mosques and mausoleums of XI-XV centuries oddly stretched on both sides and their blue domes look like an elegant necklace from the top.
Shahi Zinda is the burial place of royal persons and nobles. But the main mausoleum from which the necropolis starts seems to be the imaginary grave of Prophet Muhammad's cousin, Kusama Ibn Abbas. The complex was called "Shah-i-Zinda" that means in Persian "The Living King". He was one of those who preached Islam in that region. Later the Complex became an important pilgrimage centre that was revered by the people as sacred.
In accordance with a legend, Ibn 'Abbas came to preach in Samarkand in 640, spent there 13 years and was beheaded by the Zoroastrians during his prayer.
The grave of Kusama ibn Abbas attracts to Samarkand many adherents of religious or spiritual tourism, because even in the Middle Ages, a pilgrimage to the grave of "The Living King" was equated to Mecca hajj . According to a legend, water source at the grave possess healing power.
All mausoleums complex Shahi Zinda form a single composition. Each of them is a square building with a dome, the entrance to which is highlighted by a portico. Is rich in architectural decoration of buildings, which are used irrigation bricks, majolica tiles, carved mosaic.
The last construction is the main entrance to the crypt Shahi Zinda, which completes the whole ensemble. The inscription on the main entrance reads: "This magnificent building created Abdulazizhanom-son Ulugbek-Guragana, son of Shah Rukh, son of Amir Timur-Guragana in 838 year (1434/35 AD). After rising to 36 steps, you will find yourself on an open gallery. Here the left and right are crypts - the mausoleum of Tamerlane's relatives. The gallery ends with a round courtyard with a vaulted arch.Under it the right ancient carved door, which leads to the main shrine ensemble Shahi Zinda - Mausoleum Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. The people There is a legend about him as the Shahi-Zinda, the Living King.
Khodja Daniar Mausoleum - Samarkand
Mausoleum of Khoja Daniyar (St. Daniar), Daniyar (Daniel) - one of the most admired and most controversial relics of Samarkand. This saint is equally revered in Islam, Christianity and Judaism, but his ashes got to Samarkand land.
First, there is some prehistory.
Khoja Daniyar was born in the holy Jerusalem in 603 BC and came from the family of kings David and Solomon. After the capture of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar was taken to Babylon and studied science. He was diligent in learning and extremely devout, became famous for the ability to interpret dreams. He became a court at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, and after Darius and Cyrus, for refusing to worship an alien religion was oppressed and persecuted. Several times he was thrown to the lions, but the animals did not cause him any harm. After death in old age he was buried in the city of Susa. For devotion to the faith, wisdom and extraordinary gift Daniyar (Daniel) has been named as a prophet and canonized.
The most common version of the origin of the tomb of saint in Samarkand said that during his campaign in Asia Minor, Amir Timur was unable to take the city of Susa. The theologians came on help and told the king that the city was protected by the relics of the saint. Timur abandoned the assault, and instead asked for part of the dust, for the protection of Samarkand. The relics, with honors, carried by camels, but not reaching the city animal lay on the ground and would not like to climb, the elders decided that it was the sign and the place was built the tomb.
According to another version, the ashes were brought in 5-6 centuries to Samarkand by the immigrants from Iran - Jews or Christians, the authorities did not allow burying ashes in the city that is why grave lies outside the city walls.
There is another version that there are no Khoja Daniyar (St. Daniel’s) remains in the grave but Khoja Doniel’s - close associate of Kussam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, who came to Samarkand to preach Islam.
Unfortunately neither of versions has documentary evidence.
In either event, today the grave of the holy is a modern six-dome mausoleum, which was built in the beginning of 20th century. It is situated on the banks of the famous river Siab, north of Afrosiab place.
In the minds of burial spring passes, residents of the city and its environs benefiting from this water, believing in its healing power for many centuries.
Inside the mausoleum you can see the eighteen-meter tomb of the prophet. By one of the versions the tomb is constantly growing, on the other - a grave was made such a huge in order that no one knew where the relics exactly and the grave would not be robbed.
Near the mausoleum pistachio tree is growing, which is more than five hundred years according to the legend. It was quite dried but bloomed again in 1996 when the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II came to venerate the relics of the saint.
Ak Serai Mausoleum - Samarkand
Buried in back yards just southeast of Guri Amir is another Timurid mausoleum, known as Ak Serai (While Palace), built around 1470. Still elegant even in ruin, the building's cruciform chamber, arch design, glazed mosaic and kundal gold leaf. Stalactites pepper the inner dome and some wall paintings also survive.
Rukhabad Mausoleum - Samarkand
A paved path once led north from the Guri Amir to the Rukhabad Mausoleum off Registan Street, built by Timur at the same time to honor Sheikh Burhan al-Din Sagarji. The grave of this mystic lent the mausoleum its popular name Rukhabad, "Abode of the Spirit". Legend claims a casket of the Prophet Mohammed's (SAW) hair was buried with him. The classical plan, cubic chamber, octagonal drum, conical dome hairy with grass, plus lack of portal and brickwork without decoration give the monument an archaistic look. Only the grand dimensions remind one of its Timurid’s origin.
Ismael Samani Mausoleum - Bukhara
The fascinating tomb of Ismael Samani is an architectural bolt from the blue. It is also the oldest, best preserved, most breathtaking and original building in Bukhara and, without doubt, one of the architectural highlights of any visit to Uzbekistan.
The almost perfect brick cube was built at the beginning of the 10th century and belongs to the great cultural resurgence of the Samanid dynasty (875-999). The tomb derives its name from the founder of the dynasty Ismael, and contains not only his tomb but also that of his father Ahmed, his nephew Nasr and others of the Samanid line.
The mausoleum draws elements from early Sogdian architecture (such as the heavy corner buttresses) and Sassanid fire worship. Combining these with the recent arithmetic and geometrical advances made by Al Khorezmi, Al Fergani and Ibn Sina and the latest technology, the monumental cemetery would serve as an architectural formula for centuries to come.
The construction is of a 10.8 meter cube with four identical facades, all of which slope slightly inward and upon which sits a hemispherical cupola ringed with four domelets. Four internal arches supported by corner pillars form the squinch upon which rests the 8 and 16-sided transition to the drum. This chortak ('four arch') system was revolutionary for the time and came to dominate countless subsequent memorial tombs. From the outside, the zone of transition is masked by a gallery of ten windows which provide light and ventilation for the cool inner tombs. The mausoleum is also rich in symbolism. Its cube not only refers back to the sacred Kaaba stone at Mecca (Saudi Arabia), but furthermore symbolizes the earth and complements its dome, symbol of the heavens, to create a metaphor of the universe.
The true majesty of the building lies in the vivacity and textured richness of its basket-woven brickwork, set in a series of absorbingly complex patterns after the completion of the main skeleton structure. Such is the skill of the brickwork that its mood is at once somber shifting emphasis with the angle of the sun. Its corner buttresses stand as Herculean support, its 2-meter thick walls woven in weightless delicacy. Try to visit the building at different hours, even at night.
The tomb is a sacred site for several reasons. Originally, the tombstone had two openings, one where anxious pilgrims would place their questions, dilemmas and donations and another where a hidden mullah would leave the considered solution. The site was also originally one of the holiest cemeteries in Bukhara, where even emirs were laid to rest. However, when in 1934 the mausoleum was discovered by the Soviet archaeologist Shishkin, buried under several meters of accumulated sand and earth, the graves were relocated and the area was transformed into the Kirov public park. The accumulation of earth accounts also its survival during the Mongol destruction. A more assiduous contemporary threat to the 1000-year-old tomb can be seen in the white salt marks left by the rising water table. The Samani Mausoleum is situated in Samani Park, five minutes' walk to the west of the Registan.
Ishrat Khana Mausoleum - Samarkand
Over the road from Abdi Darun lies the noble desolation of the Ishrat Khana, or House of Joy. Legend suggests a wife of Timur built it as her tomb, but it became a pleasure palace once the ruler embraced her in awe at its beauty. The vanished opulence of its interior decor explains the joyous epithet-gold leaf, multicolor mosaic and stained glass. Over 20 tombstones of Timurid women and children occupy the crypt. Above ground the impressive portal, a survivor of the 1904 earthquake that claimed the high turquoise dome, leads to a hall once flanked by two-story galleries. Two of four spiral staircases still permit a rooftop panorama.
Khodja Abdi Darun and Birun Mausoleums - Samarkand
For a picturesque scene from Samarkand's Islamic revival, visit the charming shrine complex Khodja Abdi Darun in the southeast of the city. It is associated with the name of 9th century Arab lawyer Abd al-Mazeddin (Khodja denotes one who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca). Seljuk Sultan Sanjar erected a mausoleum for him in the 12th century, rebuilt by Ulugbek in the 15th century behind a khanagha with portal and dome. In the 19th century a mosque and madrassah completed the ensemble set around a large pool. Four ancient trees throw dappled light onto the water as young boys attend Quran classes and old men pray beneath the colorful wooden man. The complex stands in a cemetery where a new madrassah is under construction. Nearby are fragments of the city wall, hence the mausoleum's title Abdi Darun, compared to al-Mazeddin's other shrine Abdi Birun, far beyond the walls in a southern suburb.
Bukhara’s minister Nadir Divanbegi is credited with building the latter in 1633 and, as in his other works, the tiling borrows from earlier floral and geometric styles. Ongoing restoration is refreshing these patterns on the portal and dome above the mausoleum chamber, while the donations of the faithful rebuild the adjacent mosque complex.
Khodja Akrar Complex - Samarkand
4 kilometers south of the Registan stands the ensemble built around the grave of Sheikh Khodja Akrar (1404-1490). He was a leader of the Nakhshbandi dervish and dominant political figure following Ulugbek's death. Acclaimed by the people as a religious ascetic and miracle-worker, he yielded great wealth and influence over Timur's great-grandson Abu Said and his sons. Between 1630 and 1635 Bukhara’s minister Nadir Divanbegi incorporated the funerary-mosque built by Akrar's sons into a large madrassah. The mosaic tiling has been fully restored so the portal shines again with heretical art, the Persian heraldic emblem of lion-tigers chasing, similar to those on the Sher Dor madrassah. Around the courtyard, faced with solar and floral motifs similar to Tillya Kari, runs a gallery of student cells, lecture halls and a domed mosque, all functioning again in the wake of independence. South of the madrassah is the ornate Khodja Akrar mosque (17th-20th century), a row of summer and winter buildings featuring tiled and doubled niihrab, wooden man embedded with star shapes and columns finishing in muqarna stalactite capitals. The Sheikh's burial platform lies to the south of the shaded octagonal pool.
Shayhantahur Ensemble - Tashkent
Another remarkable complex of memorial buildings, which developed around the esteemed tomb, is the Shayhantaur ensemble (Sheikh Khawandi Tahur) of the 5-9th century. In its basis is an esteemed tomb of a sheikh from Tashkent who died in 1355. The sheikh was a prominent representative of Sufism in Shash and an author of many works.
Abubakr Kaffal-Shashi mausoleum - Tashkent
Kaffal Shashi was born in Shash region (Tashkent today). He was an Islamic scholar, poet and mystic. His tomb, rebuilt in the XVI century, has become a popular place of pilgrimage for Muslims. It is the main shrine complex.
The height of its entrance is 12 meters. The entrance is decorated with a decorative lattice and with a quotation from the Koran that is laid out in a special way: "Pray for me anyone who will read this inscription." The stones that are placed right at the entrance are the grave of Kaffal Shashi’s students and followers. The structure also provides for khanaka, a room for dervishes (corners on the left and right).
Zengi Ata Mausoleum - Tashkent
This mausoleum complex, 15 kilometers south of Tashkent, ranks among the holiest sites in the province. Zengi Ata, or 'dark father', was the dark-skinned Sheikh Khodia, a 13th century Sufi preacher and patron saint of shepherds.
Legend records how Amir Timur was rebuilding Yasawi's mausoleum in the late 14th century but a wall repeatedly collapsed. Yasawi appeared to him in a dream, requesting that Zengi Ata be honored first. So Timur made workers pass bricks in a long and great line from Turkestan to Tashkent. The two mausoleums date from that time, when Tashkent was a Timurid fortress.
A madrassah courtyard was added in the 18th century, a mosque in 1870 and a polygonal minaret in 1914. Recent renovation has smartened the ensemble and, most impressively, Zengi Ata's portal, bright in multicolored mosaic. Inside is the burial vault and marble tombstone, elegantly carved in Quranic inscription. Ambar Bibi, Zengi Ata's wife, lies in the cemetery beyond.
Great people were born, lived and died in Uzbekistan's territory. In memory of those people and their good deeds, many mausoleums were build where their tombs are kept. These place are sacred and proper manners should be followed. For example,
- shoes must be removed when entering
- women should cover their head with a cloth
- minimum of skin should be visible
For more manner hints, refer to MUST-KNOW.
Guri Amir - Samarkand
'Should the sky disappear, the dome will replace it', a poet on glimpsing cupola atop Amir Timur's mausoleum Guri Amir says. This is the Tomb of the Ruler, a few minutes' walk from the Hotel Samarkand.
Between 1400 and 1401 his favorite grandson, Mohammed Sultan, erected a madrassah and khanagha complex here. Mohammed's death in 1403 prompted Amir Timur to complete the ensemble with a mausoleum. Spanish envoy Clavijo reported how the ageing emir, carried to the site in late 1404, had demanded it rebuilt with added grandeur in only ten days 'under threat of a terrible forfeit to the workmen'. Although he intended burial in his hometown Shakhrisabz, Amir Timur was soon laid to rest beside his grandson and followed by descendants down to Ulugbek, whose presence has spurred recent restoration.
Mohammed Sultan's blue-tiled portal opens onto a courtyard once cornered with minarets and flanked by madrassah and khanagha. Today only the foundations survive. Their absence emphasizes the simple monumentality of the Guri Amir itself, based on an octagonal chamber decorated with geometric girikh. Above it, belting the tall, cylindrical drum, the inscription 'God is Immortal' thunders in white Kufic script three meters high. Crowning the building in fluted majesty is the sky-blue dome, gently swelling to a height of over 32 meters. Across its 64 ribs spreads a skin colored glazed tile in a continuous lozenge pattern. Yellow and green offset turquoise, blue as light and shade play with mosaic hue. Just as spectacular is the mausoleum interior, reached via the eastern gallery added by Ulugbek.
Hexagonal onyx tiles lend the lower walls a greenish translucence, topped by Qo'ranic inscriptions carved in marble and painted on jasper. Geometric panels shine with radiating stars, beside niches hung with stalactites molded from paper-mache painted blue and gold. The inner dome drips an intricate gilded coating around high lattice windows. Enclosed by a marble rail, seven marble tombstones encircle a dark-green slab 1.8 meters long, once the largest piece of jade in the world. The split is blamed on Persian invader Nadir Shah who tried to remove it in 1740.
Amir Timur lies as requested at the feet of his spiritual adviser Mir Sayid Barakah. In clockwise order are Mohammed Sultan, Ulugbek, Tamerlane's sons Shahrukh and Miranshah, and two unnamed children. The horsehair pole marks the grave of a holy man, whose remains were discovered when the mausoleum was under construction. The emblem was a common sight on the hard pilgrimage to Mecca. These tombstones are actually cenotaphs matching the layout of the real graves in the vaulted crypt below, which is usually closed to visitors.
In the courtyard stands a great marble block carved in arabesques and known as the Kok Tash (Blue Stone). Historians discredit the belief that this was Amir Timur's throne. But from the 17th century it was certainly used as coronation stone by the Bukharan emirs. Stories claim the nearby bowl was Timur's bath for pre-prayer ablutions or even a gauge of military loss before battle each soldier squeezed pomegranate juice into it. Once the survivors had drunk, the residue determined the number of fallen.
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Imam Al-Bukhoriy Mausoleum - Samarkand
Located 30 km from Samarkand, the Imam al-Bukhari complex is a splendid construction which was built in accordance with modern technologies, but at the same time has preserved its eastern architecture. Earlier in the 16th century a mosque was built close to the mausoleum. One can enter the complex through the entrance portal, which is decorated with carved gates. The memorable slabs with Arabic and Latin graphics about the construction of the complex are established on each side of the main entrance.
The Ismail al-Bukhari mausoleum stands on the central axis in the form of a rectangular prism, which is square at the foundation (the area is 9x9 m and the height is 17 m). The dome of the mausoleum is double, ribbed and decorated with blue tiles. The walls are decorated with mosaics, majolica, ganch, onyx and granite with a vegetative and geometric ornament. In the centre of the mausoleum is a tombstone coated with light green onyx.
The mosque, the khanaka and the gallery (with an area of 786 squared m) for 1500 believers to pray simultaneously are on the left side of the yard. On the right side there is a library and a museum with rare samples of manuscripts and lithographed books on Islamic theology as well as gifts of statesmen of different countries, including a piece of kisva - a coverlet from the Kaaba in Mecca.
Behind the mausoleum is an educational center for hadith study. In the centre of the courtyard is a reservoir - haouz - with ancient palm trees and a spring of healing water.
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Shakhi-Zinda Burial Vault
Not far from Bibi Khanum mosque there is one of the most mysterious and unique architectural monuments of Samarkand, Shah-i-Zinda complex. It consists of rows of refine sparkling blue colors tombs. Harmoniously combined in a lively and moving composition, various mausoleums are grouped along the narrow medieval streets. Shahi Zinda consists of eleven mausoleums, which were built one after another in XIV - XV centuries.
A unique ensemble of ancient tombs (1370-1449 years) is located near Afrasiab settlement . It is also called "Street cemetery". Building of mosques and mausoleums of XI-XV centuries oddly stretched on both sides and their blue domes look like an elegant necklace from the top.
Shahi Zinda is the burial place of royal persons and nobles. But the main mausoleum from which the necropolis starts seems to be the imaginary grave of Prophet Muhammad's cousin, Kusama Ibn Abbas. The complex was called "Shah-i-Zinda" that means in Persian "The Living King". He was one of those who preached Islam in that region. Later the Complex became an important pilgrimage centre that was revered by the people as sacred.
In accordance with a legend, Ibn 'Abbas came to preach in Samarkand in 640, spent there 13 years and was beheaded by the Zoroastrians during his prayer.
The grave of Kusama ibn Abbas attracts to Samarkand many adherents of religious or spiritual tourism, because even in the Middle Ages, a pilgrimage to the grave of "The Living King" was equated to Mecca hajj . According to a legend, water source at the grave possess healing power.
All mausoleums complex Shahi Zinda form a single composition. Each of them is a square building with a dome, the entrance to which is highlighted by a portico. Is rich in architectural decoration of buildings, which are used irrigation bricks, majolica tiles, carved mosaic.
The last construction is the main entrance to the crypt Shahi Zinda, which completes the whole ensemble. The inscription on the main entrance reads: "This magnificent building created Abdulazizhanom-son Ulugbek-Guragana, son of Shah Rukh, son of Amir Timur-Guragana in 838 year (1434/35 AD). After rising to 36 steps, you will find yourself on an open gallery. Here the left and right are crypts - the mausoleum of Tamerlane's relatives. The gallery ends with a round courtyard with a vaulted arch.Under it the right ancient carved door, which leads to the main shrine ensemble Shahi Zinda - Mausoleum Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. The people There is a legend about him as the Shahi-Zinda, the Living King.
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Khodja Daniar Mausoleum - Samarkand
Mausoleum of Khoja Daniyar (St. Daniar), Daniyar (Daniel) - one of the most admired and most controversial relics of Samarkand. This saint is equally revered in Islam, Christianity and Judaism, but his ashes got to Samarkand land.
First, there is some prehistory.
Khoja Daniyar was born in the holy Jerusalem in 603 BC and came from the family of kings David and Solomon. After the capture of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar was taken to Babylon and studied science. He was diligent in learning and extremely devout, became famous for the ability to interpret dreams. He became a court at the court of Nebuchadnezzar, and after Darius and Cyrus, for refusing to worship an alien religion was oppressed and persecuted. Several times he was thrown to the lions, but the animals did not cause him any harm. After death in old age he was buried in the city of Susa. For devotion to the faith, wisdom and extraordinary gift Daniyar (Daniel) has been named as a prophet and canonized.
The most common version of the origin of the tomb of saint in Samarkand said that during his campaign in Asia Minor, Amir Timur was unable to take the city of Susa. The theologians came on help and told the king that the city was protected by the relics of the saint. Timur abandoned the assault, and instead asked for part of the dust, for the protection of Samarkand. The relics, with honors, carried by camels, but not reaching the city animal lay on the ground and would not like to climb, the elders decided that it was the sign and the place was built the tomb.
According to another version, the ashes were brought in 5-6 centuries to Samarkand by the immigrants from Iran - Jews or Christians, the authorities did not allow burying ashes in the city that is why grave lies outside the city walls.
There is another version that there are no Khoja Daniyar (St. Daniel’s) remains in the grave but Khoja Doniel’s - close associate of Kussam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, who came to Samarkand to preach Islam.
Unfortunately neither of versions has documentary evidence.
In either event, today the grave of the holy is a modern six-dome mausoleum, which was built in the beginning of 20th century. It is situated on the banks of the famous river Siab, north of Afrosiab place.
In the minds of burial spring passes, residents of the city and its environs benefiting from this water, believing in its healing power for many centuries.
Inside the mausoleum you can see the eighteen-meter tomb of the prophet. By one of the versions the tomb is constantly growing, on the other - a grave was made such a huge in order that no one knew where the relics exactly and the grave would not be robbed.
Near the mausoleum pistachio tree is growing, which is more than five hundred years according to the legend. It was quite dried but bloomed again in 1996 when the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II came to venerate the relics of the saint.
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Ak Serai Mausoleum - Samarkand
Buried in back yards just southeast of Guri Amir is another Timurid mausoleum, known as Ak Serai (While Palace), built around 1470. Still elegant even in ruin, the building's cruciform chamber, arch design, glazed mosaic and kundal gold leaf. Stalactites pepper the inner dome and some wall paintings also survive.
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Rukhabad Mausoleum - Samarkand
A paved path once led north from the Guri Amir to the Rukhabad Mausoleum off Registan Street, built by Timur at the same time to honor Sheikh Burhan al-Din Sagarji. The grave of this mystic lent the mausoleum its popular name Rukhabad, "Abode of the Spirit". Legend claims a casket of the Prophet Mohammed's (SAW) hair was buried with him. The classical plan, cubic chamber, octagonal drum, conical dome hairy with grass, plus lack of portal and brickwork without decoration give the monument an archaistic look. Only the grand dimensions remind one of its Timurid’s origin.
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Ismael Samani Mausoleum - Bukhara
The fascinating tomb of Ismael Samani is an architectural bolt from the blue. It is also the oldest, best preserved, most breathtaking and original building in Bukhara and, without doubt, one of the architectural highlights of any visit to Uzbekistan.
The almost perfect brick cube was built at the beginning of the 10th century and belongs to the great cultural resurgence of the Samanid dynasty (875-999). The tomb derives its name from the founder of the dynasty Ismael, and contains not only his tomb but also that of his father Ahmed, his nephew Nasr and others of the Samanid line.
The mausoleum draws elements from early Sogdian architecture (such as the heavy corner buttresses) and Sassanid fire worship. Combining these with the recent arithmetic and geometrical advances made by Al Khorezmi, Al Fergani and Ibn Sina and the latest technology, the monumental cemetery would serve as an architectural formula for centuries to come.
The construction is of a 10.8 meter cube with four identical facades, all of which slope slightly inward and upon which sits a hemispherical cupola ringed with four domelets. Four internal arches supported by corner pillars form the squinch upon which rests the 8 and 16-sided transition to the drum. This chortak ('four arch') system was revolutionary for the time and came to dominate countless subsequent memorial tombs. From the outside, the zone of transition is masked by a gallery of ten windows which provide light and ventilation for the cool inner tombs. The mausoleum is also rich in symbolism. Its cube not only refers back to the sacred Kaaba stone at Mecca (Saudi Arabia), but furthermore symbolizes the earth and complements its dome, symbol of the heavens, to create a metaphor of the universe.
The true majesty of the building lies in the vivacity and textured richness of its basket-woven brickwork, set in a series of absorbingly complex patterns after the completion of the main skeleton structure. Such is the skill of the brickwork that its mood is at once somber shifting emphasis with the angle of the sun. Its corner buttresses stand as Herculean support, its 2-meter thick walls woven in weightless delicacy. Try to visit the building at different hours, even at night.
The tomb is a sacred site for several reasons. Originally, the tombstone had two openings, one where anxious pilgrims would place their questions, dilemmas and donations and another where a hidden mullah would leave the considered solution. The site was also originally one of the holiest cemeteries in Bukhara, where even emirs were laid to rest. However, when in 1934 the mausoleum was discovered by the Soviet archaeologist Shishkin, buried under several meters of accumulated sand and earth, the graves were relocated and the area was transformed into the Kirov public park. The accumulation of earth accounts also its survival during the Mongol destruction. A more assiduous contemporary threat to the 1000-year-old tomb can be seen in the white salt marks left by the rising water table. The Samani Mausoleum is situated in Samani Park, five minutes' walk to the west of the Registan.
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Ishrat Khana Mausoleum - Samarkand
Over the road from Abdi Darun lies the noble desolation of the Ishrat Khana, or House of Joy. Legend suggests a wife of Timur built it as her tomb, but it became a pleasure palace once the ruler embraced her in awe at its beauty. The vanished opulence of its interior decor explains the joyous epithet-gold leaf, multicolor mosaic and stained glass. Over 20 tombstones of Timurid women and children occupy the crypt. Above ground the impressive portal, a survivor of the 1904 earthquake that claimed the high turquoise dome, leads to a hall once flanked by two-story galleries. Two of four spiral staircases still permit a rooftop panorama.
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Khodja Abdi Darun and Birun Mausoleums - Samarkand
For a picturesque scene from Samarkand's Islamic revival, visit the charming shrine complex Khodja Abdi Darun in the southeast of the city. It is associated with the name of 9th century Arab lawyer Abd al-Mazeddin (Khodja denotes one who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca). Seljuk Sultan Sanjar erected a mausoleum for him in the 12th century, rebuilt by Ulugbek in the 15th century behind a khanagha with portal and dome. In the 19th century a mosque and madrassah completed the ensemble set around a large pool. Four ancient trees throw dappled light onto the water as young boys attend Quran classes and old men pray beneath the colorful wooden man. The complex stands in a cemetery where a new madrassah is under construction. Nearby are fragments of the city wall, hence the mausoleum's title Abdi Darun, compared to al-Mazeddin's other shrine Abdi Birun, far beyond the walls in a southern suburb.
Bukhara’s minister Nadir Divanbegi is credited with building the latter in 1633 and, as in his other works, the tiling borrows from earlier floral and geometric styles. Ongoing restoration is refreshing these patterns on the portal and dome above the mausoleum chamber, while the donations of the faithful rebuild the adjacent mosque complex.
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Khodja Akrar Complex - Samarkand
4 kilometers south of the Registan stands the ensemble built around the grave of Sheikh Khodja Akrar (1404-1490). He was a leader of the Nakhshbandi dervish and dominant political figure following Ulugbek's death. Acclaimed by the people as a religious ascetic and miracle-worker, he yielded great wealth and influence over Timur's great-grandson Abu Said and his sons. Between 1630 and 1635 Bukhara’s minister Nadir Divanbegi incorporated the funerary-mosque built by Akrar's sons into a large madrassah. The mosaic tiling has been fully restored so the portal shines again with heretical art, the Persian heraldic emblem of lion-tigers chasing, similar to those on the Sher Dor madrassah. Around the courtyard, faced with solar and floral motifs similar to Tillya Kari, runs a gallery of student cells, lecture halls and a domed mosque, all functioning again in the wake of independence. South of the madrassah is the ornate Khodja Akrar mosque (17th-20th century), a row of summer and winter buildings featuring tiled and doubled niihrab, wooden man embedded with star shapes and columns finishing in muqarna stalactite capitals. The Sheikh's burial platform lies to the south of the shaded octagonal pool.
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Shayhantahur Ensemble - Tashkent
Another remarkable complex of memorial buildings, which developed around the esteemed tomb, is the Shayhantaur ensemble (Sheikh Khawandi Tahur) of the 5-9th century. In its basis is an esteemed tomb of a sheikh from Tashkent who died in 1355. The sheikh was a prominent representative of Sufism in Shash and an author of many works.
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Abubakr Kaffal-Shashi mausoleum - Tashkent
Kaffal Shashi was born in Shash region (Tashkent today). He was an Islamic scholar, poet and mystic. His tomb, rebuilt in the XVI century, has become a popular place of pilgrimage for Muslims. It is the main shrine complex.
The height of its entrance is 12 meters. The entrance is decorated with a decorative lattice and with a quotation from the Koran that is laid out in a special way: "Pray for me anyone who will read this inscription." The stones that are placed right at the entrance are the grave of Kaffal Shashi’s students and followers. The structure also provides for khanaka, a room for dervishes (corners on the left and right).
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Zengi Ata Mausoleum - Tashkent
This mausoleum complex, 15 kilometers south of Tashkent, ranks among the holiest sites in the province. Zengi Ata, or 'dark father', was the dark-skinned Sheikh Khodia, a 13th century Sufi preacher and patron saint of shepherds.
Legend records how Amir Timur was rebuilding Yasawi's mausoleum in the late 14th century but a wall repeatedly collapsed. Yasawi appeared to him in a dream, requesting that Zengi Ata be honored first. So Timur made workers pass bricks in a long and great line from Turkestan to Tashkent. The two mausoleums date from that time, when Tashkent was a Timurid fortress.
A madrassah courtyard was added in the 18th century, a mosque in 1870 and a polygonal minaret in 1914. Recent renovation has smartened the ensemble and, most impressively, Zengi Ata's portal, bright in multicolored mosaic. Inside is the burial vault and marble tombstone, elegantly carved in Quranic inscription. Ambar Bibi, Zengi Ata's wife, lies in the cemetery beyond.
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