Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah

Of the three buildings around Lyabi-Hauz, the madrasah on the east side is the one people photograph. It was built in 1622–1623 by Nadir Divan-Begi, chief minister of the Ashtarkhanid khan Imamquli and the man who also dug the pool and built the khanaka opposite.

A caravanserai that became a madrasah

The building's plan gives away its first purpose. It has no lecture halls or mosque in the usual places, and its rooms open outwards in a way more suited to merchants than to students. The story told in Bukhara is that it was built as a caravanserai, and that at its opening the khan praised the minister for his fine new madrasah. A khan's word could not be contradicted, so a madrasah it became. Whether or not that is exactly how it happened, the building was soon adapted for teaching.

The portal

The great mosaic on the portal is the reason to come. Two simurghs, the mythical birds of Persian legend, fly towards the centre with white deer in their talons, and above them rises a sun with a human face. Images of living creatures were rarely shown on religious buildings, and this portal, like the tiger-and-sun portal of the Sher-Dor Madrasah in Samarkand begun a few years earlier, belongs to a short, bold period of figurative decoration under the Ashtarkhanids. The birds have since become one of the symbols of Bukhara.

Evenings in the courtyard

In the warmer months the courtyard is used for a folklore and costume show, often with dinner: dances from the regions of Uzbekistan, musicians, and a parade of Bukhara's gold-embroidered garments. It is touristic, but well staged and a pleasant way to end a day by the pool. The surrounding cells house craft and souvenir shops by day.

How to experience it

See the portal in the late afternoon, when the low sun lights the mosaic from the west across the water. Book the evening show through your hotel or guide on busy dates.