Registan Square: Samarkand’s Three-Faced Architectural Statement

The Registan in Samarkand was the ceremonial centre of the Timurid empire and remains one of the most coherent examples of Islamic monumental architecture anywhere. Three madrasas (Islamic schools) face inward onto a square courtyard: the Ulugh Beg Madrasa (completed 1420), the Sher-Dor Madrasa (1636), and the Tilla-Kari Madrasa (1660). The three buildings are not identical but share proportional relationships and facing glazed tilework that makes the ensemble read as a designed whole. The scale is calculated to impress: the portals (iwan) are over 30 metres high.

Ulugh Beg, Timur’s grandson and an accomplished astronomer, commissioned the first madrasa and his astronomical observatory still stands 3km away. The Sher-Dor Madrasa (“Containing Lions”) is named for the large tiger-and-deer mosaics on its facade, unusual in Islamic art because they depict living creatures; the faces are those of suns rising over the backs of the animals.

Visiting

Entry costs around USD $9-12/adult (paid in Uzbek sum; check current exchange rates as the sum has been volatile). The fee covers all three madrasas. Opening hours are 08:00 to 20:00; evenings are quieter and the tilework glows differently in late light.

The interiors of all three buildings are open. The Tilla-Kari Madrasa has a mosque (the tilla-kari means “gilded”; the interior dome is painted in gold leaf patterns), currently used as an active mosque but open to respectful visitors. Photography is generally permitted.

The evening light-and-sound show projected onto the facades (seasonal, typically April to October, starts at 21:00) is high-touristic in presentation but gives a different perspective on the buildings’ scale. Tickets around 5,000-10,000 UZS.

Samarkand’s Other Sites

Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, 2km northeast of the Registan, is a 900-metre street of mausoleums built over five centuries (11th to 20th). The tilework here is more intimate than the Registan: you walk between the buildings and the mosaics are at eye level. This is the site most architectural historians prefer to the Registan itself. Entry around USD $3.

Gur-e-Amir, Timur’s mausoleum (1404), has a ribbed turquoise dome and interior walls of carved alabaster. Timur is buried under a slab of green jade; the story goes that Stalin’s archaeologists opened the tomb in 1941 and the German invasion of the USSR began two days later. Entry around USD $3.

Eating and Staying

Samarkand’s signature dish is plov (rice cooked with lamb fat, onion, and carrot): the city version is different from Tashkent’s, using a different ratio of fat and a different cut of lamb. The Registan-area cafes serve adequate plov for around 30,000-50,000 UZS. Platan Restaurant near the old city is better: a proper full plov for 45,000-70,000 UZS.

Hotel Platan has doubles from around USD $50-70 and is well-positioned. The renovation-era boutique hotels in the old medina area (restored traditional courtyard buildings) offer more atmosphere from USD $80-120/night.

Getting there: Samarkand has an international airport (SKD) with connections to Istanbul, Moscow, and Dubai. High-speed Afrosiyob train from Tashkent takes 2 hours (around USD $15-25). The train from Tashkent is the standard approach for most travellers who fly into Uzbekistan.