Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Postcard ID: RU-2868251
Country: Russia

Here is absolutely amazing card with qorgeous building on it! It's one from the most beautiful and interesting cards came to me this August! Oh, now I so want to see this with my own eyes!

Bibi-Khanym Mosque is a famous historical Friday mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, whose name comes from the wife of 14th-century ruler, Amir Timur.

After his Indian campaign in 1399 Timur decided to undertake the construction of a gigantic mosque in his new capital, Samarkand. The mosque was built using precious stones captured during his conquest of India. According to Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, 90 captured elephants were employed merely to carry precious stones, so as to erect a mosque at Samarkand — Bibi-Khanym Mosque. Construction was completed between 1399 and 1404. However, the mosque slowly fell into disuse, and crumbled to ruins over the centuries. Its demise was hastened due to the fact it pushed the construction techniques of the time to the very limit, and the fact that it was built too quickly. It eventually partially collapsed in 1897 when an earthquake occurred.

However, in 1974 the government of the then-Uzbek SSR began to reconstruct the mosque, although the current mosque (which is still not completed) is effectively a brand-new building, as no original work remains. 

The outer walls are 167 metres in length and 109 metres in width. The cupola of the main chamber reaches a height of 40 metres, and the entranceway is 35 metres high. There is a large marble Qur'an stand in the centre of the courtyard.