Kok-Gumbaz, Istaravshan

When you take a look at city from above you immediately notice the light-blue dome of Kok-Gumbaz mosque-madrasah as if floating in the air over it. The building is located in the western part of the city and is named so because of its light-blue tiled dome (Kok-Gumbaz means "the Light-Blue Dome"). This 16th-century structure was erected by the order of Abdulatif Sultan - the son of the well-known scientist, astronomer and philosopher - Ulugbek, the grandson of Tamerlan.

The folk legend says that Abdulatif after he had quarreled with his father left home and found a job digging an aryk for an old peasant who needed it for irrigation of his land. He was supposed to receive 100 tenges for this job. His father found out about it and took away the hard earned money from the peasant and pooled it with his own in order to build the madrasah. Even three centuries after that in the end of the 19th century the madrasah still continued to train students. The main building the Kok-Gumbaz was made of square bricks. The main large square hall is extended by four deep niches on all sides. The niche with a mikhrab are richly decorated with molding. The walls are gracefully painted. The entrance portal and the dome are tiled with majolica in incrustation fashion.