Bibi-Khanym Mosque

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque is marked by a massive, soaring entrance portal and enormous ribbed turquoise domes that rise above the city skyline. Commissioned by the conqueror Timur in thirteen ninety-nine, the project was intended to be the most magnificent congregational mosque in the Islamic world. Construction relied on wealth and materials seized during Timur’s military campaign in India, famously involving ninety-five elephants to transport marble and stone.