Bibi-Khanym Mosque
Bibi Khanum Mosque (Persian: مسجد بیبی خانم; Uzbek: Bibixonim Masjidi; Russian: Мечеть Бибиханым, English: Bibi Khanym Mosque, also: ... Khanom / Khanum / Chanym / Hanim and others) is one of the most important sights of Samarkand. In the 15th century it was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world. By the middle of the 20th century only a grandiose ruin of her was preserved, but now major parts of the mosque have been restored by restoration.
Origin and Meaning
Bibi Khanum mosque was built from 1399 to about 1404 on the orders of the Central Asian ruler Timur ( Tamerlane ). Previously, Timur had expanded in several successful campaigns his power from Syria to India and had risen to become the most powerful ruler of the Islamic world. With the construction of the new Friday Mosque ( Great Mosque ) in his capital Samarkand, Timur wanted to put his power and political and religious claim a character. The building, whose construction he intermittently monitored and corrected himself, could not be fully completed until his death in 1405.
To the origin of the mosque twined later a romantic legend, in the Bibi Khanum, the favorite wife of Timur, is represented as a builder of (see below).
The plant
The mosque Bibi Khanum follows the basic type of the courtyard mosque: Your outer walls enclose a rectangular district with the dimensions 167 times 109 m, which runs along roughly from northeast to southwest - the Qibla accordingly. Your monumental and covered galleries can be in the middle of a courtyard free of 78 x 64 m.
One enters the mosque from the northeast through the tiered arches of a giant, about 40 meters high Parade portal and so reached the courtyard. A monumental, also around 40 m high dome over a square plan raises ( Persian kiosk - type ) on the opposite courtyard side. It closes with the southwest wall of the mosque and thus surmounted the space in front of the central mihrab of the plant. This domed building is the largest building of the mosque. Nevertheless, the dome can not be seen from the courtyard, because their is a whole building obscuring forming pishtak upstream: a display wall that frames a monumental, deeply recessed Ivan. The Ivan does not allow the passage into the underlying dome space; this can only be accessed from the sides.
Two further, more modest in its dimensions domed face at the center of the longitudinal sides of the courtyard, which in turn have on the courtyard side Pish Take with Iwanen. Also the gantry, through which one enters the mosque, opens onto the courtyard with Ivan. With these features, the Mosque Bibi Khanum realizes the classical Persian- Islamic architectural type of the "Four - Iwan - scheme " means a facility with a courtyard, in which twice two ( framed by high Pish Taken ) Ivane face.
The structures mentioned were around the courtyard connected by 7.2 m high, the courtyard open galleries. Their cover was formed from the concatenation of many small, flat brick dome vaults and total carried by a forest of over 400 marble columns and piers. Today there are only hints of the galleries are visible.
A jewelry today also lost the mosque were the four minarets at their outer corners. From four other, even more powerful towers or minarets that flanked the portal arch of the entrance and the pishtak of the main dome structure and stabilized, the shafts are only available.
In the middle of the courtyard stands on a stone pedestal a giant Koran stand out in relief decorated marble blocks, also from the time of Timur.
This huge mosque with its three domed rooms, the covered galleries and the open courtyard was intended to gather the entire male population of the city of Samarkand to the common Friday prayers.
Artistic design
In the construction of three domes sophisticated in Timur's time innovation was applied: the Zweischaligkeit. So could about the sublime, 40 m high outer dome of the main building are designed entirely to increased aesthetic visibility down while the inner dome shell remains committed to the proportions and aesthetics of the 30 m high internal space above the mihrab. The same is true for the lateral dome structures: Here resulted from the Zweischaligkeit the possibility that otherwise modest buildings to increase a tower and in addition enhance their effect by putting on them elegant melon shaped and longitudinally ribbed outer domes.
In the masterly decoration of the mosque all the traditions of Central Asia and Persia, and even suggestions from India were used: Steininkrustationen, decorative marble panels in relief, crown molding, wall painting. Especially glazed pottery can be found here in all its varieties: from monochrome turquoise blue large main dome over the geometric monumental mosaic of large wall surfaces, the multi-colored ceramic to the frames of the arches and the ribs of the side domes, the fine mosaic of innumerable, interwoven by arabesques, elegant thuluth font friezes up to the cobalt blue, elaborately gilded earthenware on the drum under the great dome.
The interior of the dome rooms still shows traces of colored Al- secco painting and reliefs made of paper mache, which were decorated with gold leaf and blue - the latter an invention of that time. Also from the encrusted marble pedestal zone original pieces have been preserved.
The size of the plant was already felt to the creation time as outrageous and unprecedented. Timur stood for its mosque, the best builders, stonemasons and Fayencekünstler his time: alongside local masters many artists were in the construction and the decoration involved, the Timur during his military campaigns from Azerbaijan, Persia, Central Asia and India had let procrastinate to Samarkand. Admirable appears today that the architects and artists from different countries under duress and danger of life in such a short time a work of art could succeed, which is now regarded as " a synthesis of the excellence of the former Oriental architecture ".
Fate and current state
As Timur Bibi Khanum mosque got to see after a year-long campaign of 1404, it was almost completed. He was not happy and was immediately make various changes, especially at the big dome. From the beginning, static problems disclosed. Modifications and reinforcements should save the mosque. However, after a few years fell first brick of the massive dome over the mihrab upon the believers. It retaliated that Timur the structural limits that were his builders certainly confident for his sophisticated building did not want accept.
End of the 16th century was the Usbekenherrscher Abdullah Chan make II restoration work. After that, the mosque fell back and became a ruin, further gnawed at the wind, weather and earthquakes. The inner arch of the portal building collapsed in on itself until 1897. For centuries plundered the inhabitants of Samarkand, the ruins in search of building material. Thus disappeared especially the brick bricked galleries including the marble columns.
In the 20th century ruins of the mosque Bibi Khanum impressed still visitors to the city with its huge dimensions and the still recognizable precious equipment. A first basic investigation and securing the ruins was made in the Soviet era. End of the 20th century, the Uzbek government began with the restoration of the three domed buildings and the parade portal. Even the jewelry of the domes and facades is restored and supplemented. Work on the mosque in 2010 to take yet.
Name declaration and legend
It is unclear when the name of Bibi Khanum mosque came up. In the Middle Ages the mosque only as Grand Mosque or Friday Mosque was ( جامع مسجد masğed -e Game ', Persian ) refers.
Historically, Bibi Khanum ( خانم بیبی, Persian: Mrs Bibi ) not to prove as the name of a wife of Timur. In Persian Bibi is also rather a general honorific designation under verehrenswürdige woman, especially as respectful form of address for the paternal grandmother.
However, the mosque Bibi Khanum has a reference to Timur's chief wife Sarai - Mulk Khanum. Timur was on my years of military campaigns on the go; at the time had his wife - was already an older lady - probably the supervision of the work on the mosque, the most important construction project in the capital. What is certain is that Sarai - Molk Khanum directly opposite the mosque Bibi Khanum was a foundation, a madrasah built in the same time. ( On the site has remained Nowadays, only a dome, which is narrated in the vernacular as a mausoleum of Bibi Khanum. )
According to legend, Bibi Khanum, the young and pretty favorite wife of Timur, who ordered the construction of the mosque as a gift to Timur. The story is told as follows today:
The architect, Bibi Khanum gave the order, fell passionately in love with her. He declared boldly. "I 'm going to finish the mosque only if you allow me to kiss you " "That's impossible, " parried Bibi Khanum. " But you must instead kissing one of my servants. It's matter which cup you are breastfeeding your thirst. A potion is like the other " " Oh no, " replied the architect. "Look forth once. Here I have two cups: one with clear water, the other with light wine. From the outside both look the same and both quench the thirst. But the wine will elevate me also and make them happy. " Bibi Khanum was desperate. After Timur was already on the way to Samarkand, and time was short: the mosque had to be done. Finally she relented and allowed the builder a kiss on her cheek. At the last moment, they still pulled out a small pillow between them, but the kiss was so hot and passionate that it burned into her soft cheek through the pad. Soon arrived Timur and was thrilled by the Mosque, this magnificent gift to his beloved wife. But then, when he took Bibi Khanum the veil from her face, he discovered the trace of the violence on her cheek. Furious jealousy he did not let up until Bibi Khanum had confessed everything to him. Furious, he called for the cheeky builder to himself. But who knew that was waiting for him certain death. Artistry as he was, he built himself a pair of wings, rose to the highest minaret of his mosque and flew away up to Mashhad in Persia.