Restoration experts are rehabilitating buildings using mud bricks similar to those used in medieval times and still seen in hundreds of inhabited homes in the old city. Cement has been used to shore up crumbling buildings, but Sharipov says it is used sparingly. Faded tiles have been retouched and, in some cases, replaced. In some areas, the work has not been precise. Bricks used to fill the holes in the Kalyan minaret are a slightly lighter sand color than the tower, leaving obvious signs where the artillery rounds slammed into the minaret.
Much work still needs to be done.
Centuries of sun, wind and rain have damaged, but not dulled, the luster of this floral mosaic that decorates a mosque At the top of one dome, in an alcove where teachers and their students once met, red and blue stains mark the spots where mosaics decorated the walls. A huge stork's nest sits atop the school's minaret. In contrast, the buildings of Samarkand have been largely restored, although it has been left devoid of city life. Decades ago, workers cleared the fabled Registan, the central square that in ancient times was home to a vibrant market selling silk and porcelain from China and where Islamic warriors displayed the spoils of their conquests. Except for tourists, the only life in the area now is the trucks that rumble down the highway in front of the Registan.