Registan Square

Registan Square, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, takes its name from the Persian for sandy place, and for centuries it was the open public square where royal decrees were read, markets were held and caravans arrived. Its three madrasas were built over more than two centuries by different rulers. The Ulugh Beg Madrasa on the west side, constructed in 1417-1420 by the astronomer-ruler Ulugh Beg, is the oldest and was one of the leading centres of learning of its day, where mathematics and astronomy were taught alongside religious subjects.

The Sher-Dor Madrasa (1619-1636) on the east side was built by the governor Yalangtush Bahodur, and its portal carries mosaic lions chasing deer under a rising sun, an unusual depiction of living creatures in Islamic art. Opposite it, Yalangtush also commissioned the Tilya-Kori Madrasa (1646-1660), which combined teaching rooms with a Friday mosque; its gilded interior dome gave it the name Gilded. By the 19th century the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and major restoration began in the Soviet period and continued after independence in 1991.

Today the Registan is a protected museum complex. Visitors can walk the plaza, enter the courtyards and browse craft shops in the former student cells. The architectural lesson is how each ruler matched the existing buildings in scale and symmetry, so the three form one coherent ensemble even though built a long time apart.