The Silk Road was a bustling trade route that served as the backbone of the desolate expanses of Central Asia for centuries, until the opening of reliable shipping lanes depressed the transport of goods by land. At the heart of those mythical roads was the city of Samarkand, nucleus of the most beautiful architectural expressions of what is now Uzbekistan.
Central Asia is the furthest geographic area from any ocean. It is an extensive continental region dominated by nature of vast categories, covered by infinite steppes, mountains that exceed 4,000 meters in altitude and endless deserts that offer a variegated palette of colors. In these landscapes battered by a troubled history, Uzbekistan is located, a former Soviet republic that reluctantly acceded to independence in 1991 and where the city of Samarkand in the southeast of the country shines with its own light.
Samarkand has been located on the banks of the Zeravshán River for at least 2,500 years. It was one of the nerve centers of the Silk Road, becoming a true meeting point between the Roman and Chinese empires. At the end of the fourteenth century, Tamerlane made it the capital of his empire, then experiencing an unparalleled flourishing.
Although today this city, for the most part, is a city that follows Soviet architectural patterns (with large tree-lined avenues and gray and functional buildings), it still retains part of its mythical beauty, such as that found in the Reguistan square located in the center of the city as a gigantic jewel in which the madrassas of the 15th and 17th centuries shine.
Madrassas are the ancient centers of Koranic teachings in which dozens of students of the holy book and Muslim laws were accommodated. The three buildings that make up this majestic square are the Ulughbeck Madrasa, built in 1417 - the oldest of the three - and the Sher Dor and Tilla Kari Madrasahs, built in the 17th century.
The three madrassas have impressive frontispieces profusely decorated with tiles and bricks in the Persian manner, forming an infinity of plant, star and animal figures. Sher Dor, in particular, presents a mosaic made up of two felines pouncing on a fallow deer under two golden-colored suns.
These buildings make up a scene of overwhelming beauty that certifies the legend of this city, which was called the pearl of Asia, and for which Alexander the Great sighed in captivity (despite the fact that, when the Greek conquered it, Samarkand was only a sketch of what later came to be).
In Samarkand you can also find the ruins of Bibi Janim, which was the largest mosque in Islam, and you can also browse what remains of the Ulughbeck astronomical observatory, a three-story building and 30 meters in diameter built in 1420 and from the that today you can only see a huge curved notch in the ground. Ulughbeck, heir to Tamerlane, was more fond of science than conquest; He discovered more than 200 previously unknown stars and performed highly accurate astronomical calculations. That enlightened king was ordered beheaded by his own son, who also ordered the observatory destroyed.
Also dating from the Timurid period is the Gur Emir complex, originally composed of a madrassa and a janaja (palace destined for special guests and distinguished teachers) and later expanded with a beautiful mausoleum dedicated to the memory of Muhammad, Tamerlane's grandson. At present, only the south wall and the main portal of the first two buildings and the monumental mausoleum remain, crowned by a spectacular ribbed dome covered with blue mosaics and geometric shapes.