The Registan in Samarkand is probably the most important and iconic assemblage of buildings along the Silk Road. The three Islamic madrasses that make up the square were built at different times between the 14th - 16th Centuries and have been heavily restored, including saving leaning minarets from falling, with one being rotated 180 degrees. The buildings are undoubtedly striking and beautiful in both their scale and detail. Most of the spaces are now used for various retail operations aimed at tourists, but some of our party were not offened by this and felt that it gave life to the place.
If you slip some money to the guards they let you go up the steep and narrow steps of one of the minarets to get the view from the top. The following pictures I hope do some justice to the magnificance of this World Heritage site. How it looks is affected greatly by the light at different times of the day. I think we were lucky to be here in fine weather in November as the numbers of visitors was not overwhelming.
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