Mosques & Mausolea – Architecture in Central Asia
Central Asia, and Uzbekistan in particular, boasts some of the most beautiful and dramatic Islamic architecture you’ll find anywhere. Travel around the region and you’ll see towering brick minarets, stunningly decorated mosques, madrassas and mausoleums, and mesmerisingly ornate tile work at every turn. The main draws of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, the region’s biggest attractions, are their buildings, resonant as they are of Central Asia’s irresistibly exotic past of Silk Road trade and medieval khanates.
Mosques are the defining buildings in Central Asia and come in all shapes and sizes, from Tamerlane’s epic 15th-century Bibi Khanum Mosque – so huge that it started to fall apart not long after it was completed – to beautiful modern creations such as the Minor Mosque in Tashkent and Grand Mosque in Astana. All share essentially similar qualities, from the seatless, carpeted prayer halls to the minbar pulpit and the mihrab niche that indicates the direction of Mecca. Central Asian mosques were traditionally divided into local malhalla mosques, larger Friday (Jame or Jumma) Mosques, used for the main Friday lunchtime prayers, and open air Namazgokh mosques, large enough to hold the entire town’s congregation during big Islamic festivals.
Mausolea vary from simple tombs (whose graves are often hidden in a subterranean crypt), to huge complexes complete with side halls, washhouses, kitchens and pilgrim accommodation. Tent-shaped conical Karakhanid-era tombs recall that dynasty’s nomadic roots, while the tombs of local saints known as pir are often marked by the outline of a hand and strand of horsehair whose roots lie deep in Sufism and folk religion. You’ll often find believers praying quietly in the corner of these domed halls, alongside charred evidence of candles lit in a direct reference to ancient Zoroastrian beliefs.
It’s the decoration of Central Asia’s buildings that raise them to heights only rivalled by their Persian relatives in Iran and Afghanistan (most of which are off-limits these days to all but the most adventurous of travellers). Timurid-era tilework remains unrivalled, whether it be mosaic, painted or carved terracotta tiles. Islamic constraints against the depiction of living things only added fuel to the fire of Central Asian geometric and mathematical sophistication, resulting in a head-spinning range of sublime geometric designs.
Central Asia’s architecture is not just about the past. Immense mosques and sublime tombs are still being erected; just look at the tomb of former Uzbek president Islom Karimov in Samarkand, not far from Tamerlane’s resting place. Even modern-day rulers, it seems, long for immortality.
The following are our favourite architectural sights in Central Asia.
Registan, Samarkand
The single grandest ensemble in Central Asia, consisting of three madrassas facing each other in what Lord Curzon described as ‘the world’s noblest public square’.
Kalon Minaret, Bukhara
A towering 51m tall, 12th-century brick minaret built by the Karakhanids and one of the few buildings spared by the Mongols, after Genghis Khan showed his appreciation of the building.
Khiva’s Ichan Qala
An entire walled desert city of blue-tiled mosques, madrassas, caravanserai-style halls (known as tim) and mausolea, including the stunningly beautiful tomb of Pahlavan Mahmud, Khiva’s wrestler-turned-patron saint.
Gur-i Amir, Samarkand
A world-shaking warlord deserves an epic tomb, so it’s no surprise that Timur (Tamerlane’s) resting place is one of the region’s most dramatic buildings. Timur actually meant to be buried in his home town of Shakhrisabz, next to his father and son, but the snowed-in winter mountain passes forced his burial here instead.
Shah-i Zinda, Samarkand
Central Asia’s most sublime sight is this street of lavishly decorated, mostly 14th-century tombs, drenched in a hundred shades of blue tilework and focused around the tomb of Qusam ibn-Abbas, the 7th-century cousin of the prophet Mohammed who brought Islam to Central Asia.
Ismail Samani Mausoleum, Bukhara
This architecturally innovative square tomb houses one of Central Asia’s greatest rulers and features intricate monochrome brick decor that borrows designs from ancient pillars and woven basket work.
Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan may have been a land of nomads but it boasts several architectural gems, including the Burana Tower, marking the former capital of Balasagun. Most sublime is the trio of 12th-century Karakhanid-era brick tombs in Uzgen, whose monochrome but beautifully decorated facades mark the edge of the Ferghana Valley.
Tomb of Ahmed Yasawi, Turkestan
Kazakhstan’s most important example of traditional architecture is the Timurid-era blue dome and tilework of this tomb and khanagha (pilgrim hall) in Turkestan in the far south of the country. The epic building houses the tomb of Central Asia’s most important Sufi master. Like so many buildings in neighbouring Uzbekistan, the recent over-renovation of the site has taken away some of its earthier charms.
Konye Urgench
Hidden away in northern Turkmenistan are the remains of ancient Gurganj, once one of Central Asia’s most cultured and wealthy trading cities, until the vengeful Mongols pulverised it in 1221. You can still see the slender 14th-century minaret of Kutluq Timur, the tomb of Sufi master Najmuddin Kubra and remains of several mausolea and palaces.
Tashkent Modernism
The Soviet reconstruction of Tashkent after its devastating 1966 earthquake resulted in many eye-catching modern buildings, variously described as Brutalism, Soviet Orientalism or Tashkent Modernism. Don’t miss the exterior of the Palace of People’s Friendship, the interior dome of the Chorsu Bazaar and the iconic Hotel Uzbekistan, as well as dozens of Soviet era mosaics adorning apartment blocks around the city. Track these down at mosaic.tashkent.uz/en/map.
Astana’s Modern Architecture
Central Asian architecture is not all medieval madrassas. Kazakhstan’s futuristic capital Astana boasts some of the most iconic modern architecture of the last 30 years, from Norman Foster’s tent-like Khan Shatyr and glass pyramid Palace of Peace and Reconciliation to the football trophy-shaped Baiterek Tower and the spherical glass Nur Alem Museum of Sustainable Energy, built for the 2017 Expo.
Bradley Mayhew has written guides on Central Asia for Horizon Guides, is the co-author of nine editions of the Odyssey Guide to Uzbekistan, as well as seven editions of Lonely Planet’s Central Asia guide and the Central Asia sections of the Insight Guide to the Silk Road.