|
 The Magoki-Attori Mosque in the city's
centre is an example of an urban mosque in a residential
quarter. The mosque was built on the site of the pre-lslamic
Moh temple mentioned above. Excavations have revealed
the fact that even under the Samanids there was a
six-pier mosque, which apparently was also domed.
However, it was rebuilt substantially in the twelfth
century; the floor level was upgraded and the main
facade received a new design that survives with little
damage only. By the sixteenth century, the thickness
of cultural layers had increased so much that mosque
seemed to sink deep into the soil and its facade was
unearthed only as a result of excavations carried
out in the 1930s.
The facade of the mosque is asymmetrical. To the right
it has a portal with a recessed vault, fringed with
rectangular strips; the architectural decor is composed
of covered bricks which form geometric shapes and
tiles of carved terra-cotta bearing vegetation patterns.
Carved terracotta is also used in decorating the pylons
and the vaults of the arches, combined with vegetation
patterns with inscriptions covered with blue glaze.
All in all, the Magoki-Attori Mosque is an excellent
example of Central Asian architecture during the Kara-khanid
epoch.
|
