A closer look
Why it stays with you
The ensemble was built in different periods. Ulugh Beg's madrasa reflects the intellectual ambitions of the fifteenth-century Timurid world, while the Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori madrasas were added in the seventeenth century. Their shared language of scale and ornament creates unity without making the buildings interchangeable.
Samarkand's identity extends well beyond the square. Nearby mausoleums, markets and other monuments connect Registan to the city's long role along Eurasian trade routes. See the square in daylight for the tilework and return in the evening for a different atmosphere, allowing time to look rather than simply pass through.
Background reading: Registan.
,_Samarkand.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}