Kok-Gumbaz Mosque

Kok-Gumbaz Mosque

Kok-Gumbaz Mosque

The largest mosque in Shahrisabz - the Kok-Gumbaz mosque was built in 1435 and is located in Dorut-Tillavat opposite the Shamsiddin Kulol mausoleum. The inscription on the portal says that the Ulugbek mosque was built in the name of his father Shakhruh. There are summer galleries adjacent to the mosque. To this day only the basics have been preserved, e.g. the arches, square masts with numerous small domes. The eastern portal was decorated with ornamental patterns, while its gable field (semicircular decorative wall surface over an entrance) was covered with a mosaic in the star pattern typical of Ulugbek times. In the main portal a winding staircase was built to the roof. The tower resembles a small minaret. Its lower part is covered with marble, while its upper part is crowned by a pattern covered with majolica. The north and south facades have open passageways that lead into the mosque. The building of the mosque is crowned by a huge dome covered with blue ceramics. Hence the name of the mosque - Kok Gumbaz, which means "Blue Cathedral". The interior of the Kok Gumbaz Mosque is almost square in its arrangement and has four deep corners that are carefully aligned with the cardinal points. A mehrob (indicating the direction from Mecca) is stuccoed in the western niche. The entire wall surface was covered with stucco and painted with intricate dark and light blue ornaments. For centuries, the Kok-Gumbaz Mosque was the main mosque of Shahrisabz. Already in the time of Ulugbek, a cemetery was set up in the east of the mosque, where the nobility and clergy of the Barlas Klan, who belonged to the Timurid clan, were buried. Here, on the marble tombs, one can find the names of the military leaders who took part in the Shakhruh and Ulugbek campaigns.

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