Tilla-Kari Madrasa
Samarkand court builders under Yalangtush Bahadur · Samarkand, Uzbekistan · 1660
Tilla-Kari closes the northern side of the Registan and combines the functions of madrasa and congregational mosque. Its broad entrance façade and corner towers complete the square’s three-sided enclosure, while the western prayer hall contains an exceptionally rich gilded interior that gives the building its name, meaning ‘gold-covered’. A large courtyard distributes access to cells and teaching spaces. Built from 1646 to 1660 under Yalangtush Bahadur, the madrasa completed the architectural composition of the Registan and is essential to understanding how the square developed across more than two centuries.