Registan Square

The Sher-Dor Madrasah Has Lions on Its Facade and That Was Controversial in the 1620s

Depicting living creatures in Islamic religious architecture was generally prohibited. The lion-and-sun motifs on the upper tympanums of the Sher-Dor Madrasah (its name means “lion-bearing”) were an assertion of the builder’s ambition over conventional religious rules. Apparently he got away with it, because the building still stands – completed in 1636 – facing the Ulugh Beg Madrasah across the most impressive public square in the Islamic world.

The Registan in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is a square framed on three sides by Timurid-era madrasahs covered in intricate tilework, mosaic calligraphy, and geometric patterns in blues, golds, and turquoises that have barely faded in six centuries. The name means “sandy place” in Persian, a reference to the public square it once was: a market, an execution ground, a place for proclamations. The three madrasahs span two centuries of construction (1420 to 1660) and reflect the Timurids’ obsessive investment in Samarkand as their imperial showpiece.

The Three Buildings

The Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1420 to 1441) is the oldest, built by Timur’s grandson who was also one of the most accomplished astronomers of the 15th century. The facade features exceptional calligraphic bands in blue and white. The cells where students lived once surrounded the courtyard; many are now craft and souvenir shops.

The Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619 to 1636) sits opposite and is more assertively decorative than its older neighbour, pushing the boundaries of what was permitted in religious architecture.

The Tilya-Kori Madrasah (1646 to 1660) closes the third side and served as both madrasah and mosque. Its interior mosque contains what is considered one of the finest examples of kundal work (gilded paper mache relief decoration) in Central Asia, applied to the ceiling and upper walls. It is genuinely extraordinary and frequently rushed through by visitors.

Soviet Restoration

Much of what you see has been extensively restored, primarily in the 1950s through 1970s. Some tilework is modern reproduction. The minarets on the Ulugh Beg Madrasah lean visibly, which was there before restoration. The level of historical authenticity varies. This does not significantly diminish the experience – the scale, colour, and spatial composition of the square are intact – but knowing it helps calibrate what you are looking at.

Beyond the Registan

Shah-i-Zinda, 2km northeast, is a processional lane of 14th and 15th-century mausoleums in different tilework compositions. The coherence of the lane as a sequence, with changing colour schemes along 300 metres, makes it personally preferable to the Registan for pure tile quality. Gur-e-Amir, the mausoleum of Timur himself (500 metres from the Registan), has the ribbed turquoise dome that was the direct model for the Taj Mahal’s dome.

Getting There

High-speed Afrosiyob train from Tashkent takes 2.5 hours, about USD 30 to 40 for second class. April through May and September through October are the best visiting months; July in Samarkand reaches 38 to 42 degrees Celsius.