Ulugbek Madrasah

The Ulugbek Madrasah is recognizable by its soaring central portal, which is flanked by two stories of residential cells and decorated with intricate star-like geometric patterns in its tilework. Completed in fourteen seventeen, it is the oldest surviving madrasah in Central Asia. It was built under the patronage of the astronomer and ruler Mirzo Ulugbek, the grandson of Tamerlane, who intended to establish the city as a center for science and education.