Bibi-Khanum Cathedral mosque: description, history and interesting facts

The Bibi Khanum mosque, located in Samarkand, is a unique architectural and religious monument of the 15th century, which is one of the main decorations of the ancient Asian city. The history of the construction of this temple gave birth to several folk legends.

Decoration of Samarkand

The famous Samarkand Bibi Khanum mosque was built by the order of Tamerlane (Timur), who returned from a triumphant trip to India in 1399. The Turkic general himself chose the place for its erection. To begin with, he ordered to expand the market square (it was in its place and the main mosque of the whole city appeared).

Bibi-Khanum is remarkable for the fact that it was worked by a huge number of masters from various Asian countries: the Golden Horde, India, Persia, Khorezm. A total of about 700 people were involved, 500 of whom worked in the mountains (they were building huge blocks of stone in a career 40 kilometers from the city). Indian elephants were used to transport the materials. The building was built of baked bricks. Only the best raw materials were used in the construction - the emir wanted the mosque to become a lifetime monument of his era.

The Emir's Dream

Bibi-Khanum was extremely important for Tamerlane. He constantly urged builders and engineers. The great emir made responsible for the compliance with the terms of the construction of several of his provincial governors. For clarity, a group of architects previously created a miniature model of the cathedral mosque. The project was divided into several parts: the main building, a portal arch, arcades and walls. Each of these elements was answered by a certain group of workers.

The Legend of Tamerlan's Wife

Tamerlane seldom stayed in place. Having given an order to build Bibi-Khanum, he left Samarkand and set out on a long campaign against the Ottoman Sultan. Meanwhile, the work continued as usual. It is known that Timur dedicated his new mosque to his wife Saray-mulyk-hanym. She stayed in Samarkand and actually supervised the construction instead of her husband. Her name is associated with medieval legends about Bibi-Khanum.

One of the folk legends says that the architect responsible for the portal arch was in love with Saray-mulyk-hanym. He intentionally dragged out the construction because he did not want to say goodbye to his wife Tamerlane. So several years passed. By this time, the grandiose cathedral mosque of Bibi-Khanum had acquired a minaret and columns of white marble (there were about 1,500 of them). Construction is almost over, it remains only to close the portal arch. But at the last stage of the work, human passions nearly deprived Samarkand of one of its main attractions.

The Wrath of Timur

The year 1404 came. Tamerlan returned from his campaign and was soon to arrive in Samarkand. Saray-mulyk-hanym hurried the architect to finish the arch. The young man demanded a daring reward. He wanted to kiss the queen. The wife of Tamerlane offered the admirer a choice of one of the court beauties and added that all women are equally beautiful. In support of her theory, the queen handed over to the stubborn a dozen colorful eggs and advised the applicant to clean them to make sure of their internal identity.

However, nothing helped. The Bibi-Khanum mosque continued to stand unfinished, and Tamerlane was closer to Samarkand day by day. The architect still insisted on his own. Finally, Sarai-mulyk-hanym yielded and allowed the admirer to kiss her cheek. From the touch of his lips, there was a noticeable trace, which immediately fell into the eyes of the returned Tamerlane. The great emir ordered to catch a rogue, but he could not find it.

Old and new portal

The described legend of Bibi-Hanym is beautiful, but hardly has something in common with reality. Firstly, Tamerlane's wife was about 60 years old at the time of construction, which discards the theory of her young beauty. Secondly, as the chronists testify, Timur was indeed in a rage, but not because of the defiant behavior of the architect, but because of the low (as it seemed to the emir) portal. He failed to cope with his duties as a nobleman in charge of the "construction of the century", and was executed in September 1404.

At the behest of Tamerlane, the unsuitable entrance portal was destroyed, and in its place a new, even more majestic one was built. Returning to his homeland, the emir became seriously ill. He could not move independently and therefore ordered his servants to wear it to the construction site. The tsar urged the workers to throw meat and even money into them. Soon the arch was completed, and the Bibi-Khanum mosque began to receive believers. As for the long-suffering arch, the fault of the earthquake destroyed it only a few years after the erection. It was not tried to restore it any more. But also having lost an arch, the mosque has not lost its majesty.

Design Features

Bibi-Khanum is the technical limit of the building art of the 15th century. Above the central aperture was thrown a powerful and unprecedented arch. A grand wide portal was carved with carved marble. To make the entrance gate of the master used seven types of metals (including gold and silver). The height of the building reached forty meters, on top of it was crowned a huge double dome.

A special place was a courtyard with a well, surrounded by a horde of magnificent columns set in four rows. This was the midday Friday namaz of the majority of Muslims in Samarkand. Thousands of devout people, settled on their rugs in the shade of snow-white columns, represented a majestic sight of the religious unity of a large number of people.

The symbol of the city

The main dome of the famous mosque was so high that even the illumination of countless chandeliers and lamps could not dispel its gloom. Dozens of mirrors rested on the tiled walls. Reflecting the sunlight, they gave the mosque a unique atmosphere. This optical illusion led to the fact that the azure domes (painted in the color of the sky) and the towers of the minarets shone with recognizable brilliance. Inside the walls were decorated with ornate ornaments and marble mosaics. Even today they continue to amaze the imagination. Painting on plaster and carved wood also survived to our times.

Medieval poets and writers compared the pattern of the Bibi-Khanum arch with the Milky Way and a map of the starry sky. The room itself received amazing acoustics. Even the quiet sermons of the Imams were spread over huge distances and thousands of Muslims who visited the mosque for the sake of daily prayers were heard. According to the Islamic tradition, the masters wrote down the inner and outer walls of the temple with quotations from the Koran. There is no doubt that Bibi Khanum was the center of the religious life of Samarkand. Epochs, kings and governments changed, and only this monastery remained the same.

Abode of faith

The most important part of the Bibi-Khanum mosque is the mihrab. It is a niche in the wall, decorated with a small arch and two columns. As in any other mosque, Mihrab Bibi-Khanum points to the holy city of Muslims of Mecca. In this niche, the Imams traditionally prayed. It is an analog of the Christian altar or apse.

A distinctive feature of Bibi-Khanum as a cathedral mosque is the presence of a minbar. At this department, the imam read the Friday sermon. The ceremony took place in utter silence. Believers carefully listened to the Imam's words and focused on his sermons.

Mosque and mausoleum

Bibi-Khanum took the believers for many years, despite the regular earthquake in Central Asia. For several centuries the building could not but decay, but the temple managed to be preserved in the same way as many other unique sights of Samarkand. The restoration of Bibi-Khanum already in modern independent Uzbekistan is evidenced by the walls and interior interiors of the ensemble, which continue to amaze with their grandeur and exclusivity. The authorities are taking care of the historical monument today. The last set of works on the study and restoration of the building took a long time (1968 - 2003 gg.). Excavations of archaeologists have presented science with many valuable artifacts. Today the mosque continues to receive guests. Religious services are not held, but the building has become an important museum. The architectural ensemble covers an area of 18 thousand square meters.

Together with the mosque the mausoleum of Bibi-Khanum was built, which is located directly opposite it. In this tomb found their resting women from the family of Tamerlane. The mother of Saray-mulyk-hanym was buried in the mausoleum first. For Timur, a separate family tomb was built, which was located in another part of Samarkand.