| The
Kalyan Mosque
The Kalyan Mosque
is one of the outstanding monuments
of Bukhara, dating back to the
fifteenth century. According to data
from archaeological excavations, the
original Karakhanid Djuma Mosque was
destroyed by fire and dismantled,
apparently at the time of the
Mongolian invasion. Some time later,
it was rebuilt, but this
reconstructed mosque did not remain
long. A new mosque was built in the
fifteenth century, at the time of
the Sheybanids, according to written
sources of the time. Under Temur,
the construction of monumental
buildings was concentrated in
Samarkand and Shahrisabz. However,
under Ulughbek, the powerful clergy
of Bukhara initiated the
construction of a new Djuma Mosque
on the site of the old one. Its
dimensions are just slightly smaller
than those of the Bibi-Khanim,
Temur's congregational mosque in
Samarkand. However, Bukhara's Djuma
Mosque is not decorated as
elaborately as the Bibi-Khanim. The
layout of the Djuma Mosque (named
the Kalyan Mosque) is traditional: a
rectangular courtyard with a tall
and large maksura room on the west
side. Each of the courtyard axes has
a large ayvan and the perimeter of
the courtyard is built up with
pillar-domed galleries (there are
208 pillars and 288 domes). The
maksura is square and has deeply
recessed niches on the transverse
axis and a mihhrab on the main axis.
Slabbing is typical for the early
fifteenth century,-an octahedron of
arched pendentives supports a
vaulted inner dome and is capped by
a spherical blue outer dome upon a
drum. This structure still dominates
the skyline of Bukhara. Construction
of the mosque was completed in 1514
under the direction of
Ubaidulla-khan. new elements were a
main facade with peshtok in the
centre of it, gul-dasta (towers) and
arches on the walls. The decor of
the mosque is constrained, composed
primarily of glazed tiles and bricks
that form knots, and is concentrated
mainly on the main facade and the
mihrab. Interestingly, however,
beyond this facade archaeological
research has revealed an earlier
decor, composed of six sided tiles
and a mosaic border. The earlier
decor is marked with the name of the
master who made it, Bayazid Purani,
and dates back to the fifteenth
century.
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