Sher-Dor Madrassah: the history of construction
Sher-Dor Madrassah was built on the Registan Square, Samarkand in 1619-1636. The name is translated as “Madrassah with Lions”. It is the distorted and exaggerated reflection of the Ulugbek Madrassah, which is located just opposite, on the western side of the Registan Square. The difference in age between them is 200 years. Sher-Dor has larger area and sizes, but it yields to its “elder brother” by the quality of finishing works.
On the outside and inside this Madrassah is decorated with bright ornaments of glazed brick, walls and towers are covered with majolica of various patterns of climber flowers and quotations from Koran on Arabic. But some part of finishing is irretrievably lost, though scientists, historians and restorers try to recover the initial appearance of Sher-Dor Madrassah.
By architecture the Sher-Dor Madrassah almost repeats the Ulugbek Madrassah, i.e. it is the square building with inner yard, khudjras (cells) for students and two rooms for classes. The Madrassah was considered as the modern building of that time, because the latest architectural innovations were used at the construction. Moreover such grand building has a set of constructive peculiarities, which make it one of the best architectural monuments in Samarkand. In addition the Madrassah of Sher-Dor has some features. In the center of the arch above the entrance there is the image of swastika, which from ancient times was the symbol of abundance and fertility. Also there are images of tigers with the sun on their backs on each side of the arch.
For the whole period of existence the Madrassah of Sher-Dor has been restored many times. The largest works were conducted in the beginning of XX century by Soviet architect, out of them the most famous was V.G. Shukhov. Today this monument of Samarkand architecture is one of the main sights of the city. In 2001 the Madrassah of Sher-Dor entered the UNESCO World Heritage List.
