Samarkand - Registan and Tamerlane's tomb.

Although we had seen some beautiful mausoleums, an observatory and a mosque, all with gorgeous facades and beautifully tiled "iwans" (arches), the real drawcard for Samarkand is the Registan.  It was the heart of the city, the earliest building built in 1420 under Ulughbek and the the rest over the next 200 years.  It was a public square where people gathered to hear proclamations, and a place of executions apparently (Wikipedia).

One building of the Registan.  It is to right in the pic above.

It is almost churlish to compare it with the much grander Isfahan in Iran.  But what I did see was what happens when you add gold to the decor.

And the next drawcard is the tomb of Tamerlane.
This is the front:

The dome:

And how they hang together.

And this statue is new - the first president of Uzbekistan.