Decorative features of a mausoleum in the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis complex.
541333459
Decoration, Uzbekistan, Tile, Horizontal, Turquoise Colored, Tomb, Mausoleum, Samarkand, Close-up, Photography

©Rosita So Image/Getty Images

Shah-i-Zinda

Top choice in Samarkand


Samarkand’s most moving and beloved site is this stunning avenue of mausoleums, which contains some of the richest tilework in the Muslim world. The name, which means ‘Tomb of the Living King’, refers to its original, innermost and holiest shrine – a complex of cool, quiet rooms around what is probably the grave of Qusam ibn-Abbas, who is said to have brought Islam to this area in the 7th century. The most stunning Timurid-era tilework dates from 14th and 15th centuries.

A shrine to Qusam, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, existed here on the edge of Afrosiab for around seven centuries before Timur (Tamerlane) and later Ulugbek buried their family and favourites near the sanctity of the original shrine.

The most beautiful tomb is the Shodi Mulk Oko Mausoleum (1372), resting place of a sister and niece of Timur, second on the left after the entry stairs. The exquisite majolica and terracotta work here – notice the minuscule amount of space between the tiles – was of such exceptional quality that it merited almost no restoration.

After remarkably surviving more than seven centuries with only minor touch-up work, many of the tombs were aggressively and controversially restored in 2005. As a result, much of the brilliant mosaic, majolica and terracotta work you see today is not original.

Shah-i-Zinda is an important place of pilgrimage, so enter with respect and dress conservatively. Just outside the entrance are the foundations of a 15th-century tahorathana (bathhouse). At the end of the pathway between the mausoleums, the complex opens up into Samarkand's main cemetery, which is a fascinating place to walk.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Samarkand attractions

1. Hazrat-Hizr Mosque

0.26 MILES

Across Shahizinda ko'chasi from the Siob Bazaar, the Hazrat-Hizr Mosque occupies a hill on the fringes of Afrosiab. The 8th-century mosque that once stood…

2. Gumbaz Synagogue

0.26 MILES

Hidden in the Old Town on unmarked Denau is this working 19th-century synagogue, built in 1891 for Samarkand's Jewish community. The atmospheric hall has…

3. Mubarak Mosque

0.33 MILES

This small neighbourhood mosque in the Old Jewish Quarter is part of a charming ensemble with a hauz (pool) and small minaret.

4. Bibi-Khanym Mausoleum

0.34 MILES

Across from the Bibi-Khanym Mosque is Bibi-Khanym’s surprisingly plain 14th-century mausoleum, home to five tombs and some lovely interior painted…

5. Bibi-Khanym Mosque

0.42 MILES

The enormous congregational Bibi-Khanym Mosque, northeast of the Registan, was financed from the spoils of Timur's invasion of India and must have been…

6. Qoraboy Oqsoqol Mosque

0.44 MILES

The gloriously faded Qoraboy Oqsoqol Mosque is hidden down an alley just off Abu Laiz Samarkandi ko'chasi in the old Jewish Quarter of the Old Town.

7. Mausoleum of Abu Mansur al-Moturudiy

0.54 MILES

Deep in the lanes of the Old Town is the surprisingly impressive new Mausoleum of Abu Mansur al-Moturudiy. The entry fee is over the top; you can see it…

8. Afrosiab Museum

0.57 MILES

The Afrosiab Museum was built around one of Samarkand’s more important archaeological finds, a chipped 7th-century fresco of the Sogdian King Varkhuman (r…