Kosh Madrasah: Modari Khan and Abdullakhan

A few minutes' walk south of the Bolo-Hauz Mosque, two madrasah portals face each other across a small square. This is the Kosh Madrasah, the "double madrasah", and both buildings were raised by the most ambitious builder of 16th-century Bukhara, the Shaybanid ruler Abdullah Khan II.

Mother and son

The southern building, the Modari Khan Madrasah, is the earlier. It was built in 1566–1567 and dedicated to the khan's mother; its name means "the khan's mother". Its portal is decorated in glazed brick and mosaic in blue and turquoise.

Opposite stands the Abdullakhan Madrasah of 1588–1590, built late in the khan's reign. It is the more inventive of the two. Behind its tall portal the plan departs from the usual square courtyard: corner halls, galleries and a domed room on the west side give it a complex, almost labyrinthine layout, and some of its cells open onto upper galleries. The tilework on the portal is among the finest of Bukhara's late 16th century.

How to experience it

The Kosh Madrasah is outside the main tourist circuit, so it is usually calm, and the facades can be studied without crowds. Access to the interiors varies; sometimes a caretaker or a craft workshop has the key. Fit it into a walk between the Bolo-Hauz Mosque, the Samanid Mausoleum and the Fayzulla Khodjaev house, all of which lie within fifteen minutes.