Bibi Khanum Mosque

Bibi Khanum is the largest mosque in Central Asia, which is a rather significant monument of the entire Islamic world. Only by standing near the gates and majestic walls of Bibi Khanum, one can fully realize all the splendor and grandeur of this architectural complex.

The entrance to the mosque is a massive portal, mysteriously called the Milky Way. Immediately behind it, the traveler can see the huge monumental main mosque. One of the medieval poets wrote enthusiastically about its amazingly beautiful domes, which overshadow the entire sky. It is only when you get to know the main mosque personally that you realize that this is by no means a poetic metaphor. However, the whole complex is surrounded by romance, incredible stories, beliefs and fairy tales that have been woven together over the many centuries of Bibi Khanum's existence.

Unfortunately, not all the structures of this amazing complex have been preserved to this day. Many of them were partially lost under the ravages of time. But gradually Bibi Khanum acquires its historical original appearance. With financial support from the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, regular reconstructions are carried out, individual fragments of the complex are being restored and organically intertwined with the original surviving buildings.

The history of the Bibi Khanum Mosque

The history of this famous and majestic mosque in Samarkand has several variations at once. In this case, it is quite difficult to distinguish the truth from fictional legends and folk stories. According to one main version, the majestic Bibi Khanum building was built by Tamerlane and named after his wife's mother. This version is confirmed by the notes of the famous Spanish traveler of that time, Rui Clavijo.

According to the second version, this complex was built by Timur's wife named Bibi Khanum, who wanted to give her husband an unusual gift when he was on another camping trip. It is claimed that she managed to erect only one minaret before the arrival of Tamerlane. They were simply beautiful in their grandeur and surrounded by dazzling white columns. But the main arch, which was supposed to serve as the central entrance to the courtyard of the mosque, was not yet completed. The reason for this trouble was the great passion for Tamerlane's wife on the part of the young architect. He did not want to finish building the mosque in order to spend more time with Bibi Khanum. The emir's wife did not share the feelings of the architect in love at all. On the contrary, she was completely furious at this delay in construction, because Tamerlane and his army were already quite close to Samarkand.

After much persuasion, the young man demanded just one kiss from Bibi Khanum. In this case, he promised to finish the construction as soon as possible. Timur's wife resisted the impudent young man for a long time and tried in every possible way to dissuade him from this act. She even offered him countless gorgeous beauties from her entourage, but the architect stood his ground. Desperate, Bibi Khanum allowed herself to be kissed on the cheek. This kiss was so passionate that it left a clear mark on the delicate skin of the emir's wife. When Tamerlane returned home, he noticed this trail and ordered the scoundrel to be captured. But by this time, the young architect was already very far from Samarkand.

After a long study of all the documents and surviving manuscripts, researchers and historians agreed on their version of the origin of this amazing architectural complex. Their official version says that Bibi Khanum was built by Tamerlane himself, after his return from a very successful campaign in India. When he returned, he wished to build a huge mosque and give it the name of his wife. The construction of the mosque began in May 1399. Tamerlane himself chose the place for the development. He attracted numerous architects and craftsmen from many countries to the construction of this architectural marvel. More than 500 people were engaged in mining stone for construction in quarries, and about a hundred Indian elephants delivered this stone to Samarkand. The titanic work of all those involved in the construction of Bibi Khanum allowed the mosque to be built in just 5 years, which is a very short period of time for that time. It is also worth considering the scope, grandiose dimensions of the structure and its complex decor.

Surprisingly, Tamerlane did not like the mosque after its construction was completed. In complete indignation, he ordered the construction managers to be seized and imprisoned. It is possible that Timur was right in his assessment of the construction, because even during his reign in the mosque, stones of various sizes with expensive decorations were very often showered on the heads of worshippers. But the very size of the mosque, its architectural features and ingenious decor are admirable even in our time. With modern technology, the construction of such a complex today would require herculean labor and waste. But they would not have built structures on this place, given the entire seismological danger of this region.

In its original form, the Bibi Khanum complex had a huge gallery of almost 500 marble columns that connected all the buildings together. The main eastern portal was 33 meters high and 45 meters wide. The entrance arch to the main mosque building itself was decorated with massive metal gates and elaborately carved marble slabs. Each corner of the rectangular structure had its own multi-tiered minaret reaching high into the sky. Of the entire original religious complex, only a few structures have been preserved: the Milky Way portal, the buildings of the main and two small mosques, as well as the only minaret.

Another important attraction of Bibi Khanum is the huge marble pedestal for the Koran, which was built by Ulugbek– Timur's grandson. The local population has revered this pedestal for many centuries and firmly believes in its miraculous properties. They say that any woman who wants to conceive should approach him, touch him and pray for a child. The marble giant will silently listen to the woman and grant her what she wants.

Thousands of tourists from different countries come to Bibi Khanum every year to enjoy the splendor of this architectural masterpiece, which was built many centuries ago. Thanks to recent reconstructions, visitors to this mosque can once again see four minarets: the renovated one that survived and three rebuilt ones. However, it is worth noting that the new minarets are still slightly inferior in height to the original one, which has managed to survive to this day. A complete reconstruction of the huge "Milky Way", which was half destroyed, was also carried out. Today, an observant visitor to the mosque can only notice a slight difference in the arch's ornament: the old patterns have a darker color than the new ones.

In general, today the historical monument of Bibi Khanum looks almost the same as it looked under Tamerlane. Anyone can personally visit this place in Samarkand and pay tribute to the genius of all the craftsmen and architects who worked on the construction of this majestic mosque.