Gallery
Description
Property Name: Bibi Khanum Mosque
Inventory No: 998-66-3
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2007-10-23
Country (State party): Uzbekistan
Province: Samarkand
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 39° 39′ 38.31″ N
66° 58′ 8.34″ E
Historic Period: Timurid
Year of Construction: 1399-1405
Style: Timurid
Original Use: Mosque
Current Use: Mosque
Architect: Unknown
Significance
The mosque is built by Timur in the memory of his wife. It is still one of the most greatest mosques in the Muslim world. The mosque played a crucial role for the development of Islamic architecture, exercising an important influence in the entire region, from the Mediterranean to the Indian subcontinent.
Selection Criteria
i. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
ii. to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
Bibi-Khanum Mosque was partly in ruins, having lost its upper part in an earthquake some two centuries ago. In 1974 conservation and restoration work started. It has now been rebuilt using reinforced concrete over the existing historic structures. It should be noted that the tone of the new tiles is slightly lighter than the original.
References
Bulatov, M.C. Geometriçeskaya Garmonizatsiya v Arhitekture Srednei Azii IX-XV vv., Moscow 1988
Gippenreyter, V. Srednyaya Aziya:arkhitekturnıe pamyatniki IX-XIX vekov, Planeta, Moskva, 1987
Gombos, Károly. The Pearls of Uzbekistan: Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva, Corvina Press, Budapest, 1976.
Lawton, John, Samarkand and Bukhara, Tauris Parke Books, London, 1991.
Naumkin, Vitali. Samarkand, Garnet Publishing, Reading, 1996.
Pugachenkova, G.A. A Museum In the Open, Gafur Gulyam Literature and Art Publishing, Tashkent, 1981)
Samarkand: A Museum in the Open, İzdatel’stvo Literaturi i İsku, Tashkent, 1986.
Umniakov, I. I., Aleskerov, Y. Samarkand: a guide book, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1972.
UNESCO Web Site: http://whc.unesco.org/
Archnet Web Site: http://archnet.org/
Organization of World Heritage Cities Web Site: http://www.ovpm.org/
University of Washington Web Sİte: http://www.washington.edu/