Samanid Mausoleum

The Samanid Mausoleum is the tomb of Ismail Samanis in Bukhara. It is the oldest preserved example of Islamic architecture in Central Asia and also the only monument of the Samanid dynasty, which has been preserved. It is culturally and historically significant insofar as the Islamic belief forbids the architectural ornamentation of graves. Cohn -Wiener suggested that it is the earliest Islamic dome grave ( Qubba ) at all.

When exactly was the construction is unknown, it is about the 10th century dated ( Ismail ruled Khorasan 900-907 ). Architecturally, the building leaning against a building type that was already known from the Sassanid era - the Zoroastrian Fire Temple. The mausoleum has a square base with a side length of 10 m. It is walled on all four sides open and made ​​of baked bricks. At the four corners of the base three-quarter columns are set without base and capitals. Above the pillars runs around the building an arcaded gallery with 10 sheets per page. On the roof of beehive -like small domes are placed at the four corners. These are not directly above the columns, but are shifted to the center of the building. The conclusion is a dome ( clear height 9 m) with a small lantern.

In the middle of each outer wall in a rectangular frame, a gate is recessed. Within the rectangular frame, a keel arch opens inwards, in which once again a rectangular gate is embedded. Only the framework of these gates are decorated with ornaments made ​​of terracotta. The rest of the design of the mausoleum results solely from the arrangement of the bricks, the circle ornaments around the door frame and the arcaded gallery were made of bricks.

Inside, the decoration of the exterior follows. The square building layout is first converted with bow over the four corners in an octagonal shape. In the corners of the octagon are small columns with capitals that are more ornament as a stressed member. The columns in turn support the projections of a narrow sixteen- band, which finally merges into the round dome. Behind the arch of the octagon are Tromp niches, which are characterized by three prominent ribs (one each on the left and right side of the niche and one in the middle).

The mausoleum was once the center of a cemetery and sank over time under several layers of sand. Only in the 20th century it was completely exposed and is now surrounded by a park. Because of the arrangement of the bricks, the color shade of the mausoleum changes depending on the light.