A recent trip to Uzbekistan to see the Islamic architecture of mosques, madrasas, and mausolea occasioned many memorable encounters with the extraordinary kindness and hospitality of the Uzbek people. They gladly agreed to pose for photographs, initiated conversations in subway stations and on trains to practice their English, and sometimes placed a hand over the heart when passed on the street. The architecture of the Silk Road cities of Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand was as impressive as I expected. Dating to the Timurid and Shaybanid dynasties of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, those monumental structures have simple axial plans with high entrance portals (peshtaks), vaulted interior spaces often decorated with honeycomb niches (muqarnas), and bulbous, sometimes ribbed turquoise domes. Their walls are covered in geometric patterns of intricate tile and brickwork and bands of Arabic calligraphy. A large group of images may be seen on this website in the Uzbekistan gallery. — 21 Nov 2024