Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-14
THE RIGISTAN OF SAMARKAND.
BY E.


IT and the Chicago Record Herald.
Oar is completed by a melon-shaped dome
on one side, rising from the roof of
mosque, and on the other side by a twin
building without dome which was orig
inally intended for the business of1ces
of the college.
The front of the medresse of UIeg Beg
is similar except that there is no dome
and the facade of the mosque is re-
lieved by panels of marble fretwOrk OF
exquisite design and as delicate as lace
These panels are similar to those In the
guls at Delhi and Agra in India.
At the four corners of the square, on
either side of the facades of both me-
dresses, rise minarets to the same height
delicate. slender pointed minarets Of
Cairo, Constantinople and other Turkish
cities. which are modelled after the cy-
press tree, but are heavy, clumsy. CHM
ney-ike structures, about the same size
from the bottom to the top and crowned
with capital similar to those of Ionic
pillars. These towers, perhaps It's feet
in height, were once entirely veneered
with blue tiles set in fantastic designs.
They are used as minarets. There are
spiral stairwats inside of them. lighted
by holes pierced in the sides Of the tower,
and at the appointed hours muzzeins
climb TO the top and call the faithful to
prayer.
The minarets attached to the college
of Uleg Beg appear to lean away from
the front of the build
Leaning ing. at nearly the same
r,,r,or, angle as the famous
tower of Pza, and that
phenomenon has been the subject OF
much discussion. The priests and the
professors, as is customary, told us that
the slender spires were thrown out of
perpendicular by earthquakes. Several
writer's have advanced the opinion that
they were intended to lean by the archi-
tect, but Eugene Schuyler, formerly
American minister to Russia and Turkey,
who wrote the first and most complete
book in English about Turkestan. insists
that the leaning appearance of the NINA
rets is an optical Illusion, trick of the
architect He declares that they are
perfectly straight and perpendicular, but
that the walls of the facade of the build
ing gradually diminish in width for the
entire distance from the ground to the
top, and create the effect that has been
the subject of such heated dispute. DR..
Lansdell, an English scientist, claims
that he has been able to confirm Schuy-
ler's theory with a plumb line. He
says that he climbed to the top of both
minarets and by actual tests discovered
that they are absolutely perpendicular.
and not an inch out of plumb, but that
the facade of the medresse is seven feet
wider at the foundation than 1t is at
the top.
The third medresse, known as the Til
lah-Kar, is entirely different from the
other two. It has CEN
Tillah-Kar trail archway and ia
rr.1. cade 112 feet in height-a
No~ASSoo' square, heavy looking
surface of brick masonry. which was
originally plastered over and then cover
ed with gold leaf. You can imagine what
a startling effect was produced. Upon
each side of this central structure are
wings or extensions of similar masonry,
showing two tiers of recesses or loggias
covered by arches similar in form to
the great central arch. but only about
one-twentieth the size. They have the
effect of a honeycomb. At each corner
of the building is a round tower, rising
little above the roofs of the WINGS but
only two-thirdS Of the height Of the CEN
trail structure.
Within and behind this gorgeous front.
which is entirely plain, but was covered
with gold leaf, is q tower like the turret
of a fortress, which covers a mosque
used for worship by the professors and
students. The exterior of this tower,
feet in diameter, was once covered with
gold leaf and the interior walls were
laid with gold mosaic. similar to that
which has attracted so much admira-
ton on the ceiling of ST. Marks Cattle
dral at Venice. At the time of it's COM
pletion in 1913 1t is probable that the
medresse of Tillah-Kar was the most
gorgeous structure in the universe. 1
would not attempt to compute the acres
of gold leaf that were laid upon it, but
you can judge from the fact that the
front is at least 400 feet long, very near
ly 100 feet high in the center and sixty
feet at the wing.
The interior of all three of these med
resses, like other buildings of their kind,
consists OF a large court,
Interior with fountains in the CEN
c ter. at which the faithful
w. perform their ablutions
before entering the mosque to say their
prayers. In two of them the fountains
are shaded by beautiful trees and banks
of flowers are placed in an effective way
In Uleg Beg court is a clump Of olean-
ders. now blazing with bloom.
Around the four sides of the court are
cloisters. In the Shir-Dar medress only
one story; in the others two stories. and
opening upon them are rows Of cells like
those of an ordinary monastery. They
are windowless and lighted and ventilated
only through the doors. The cells are
about ten or twelve feet in size, and
are furnished according to the taste and
the means of the priests or professors
who occupy them. Some show evidences
of refinement and love of luxury others
are as bare and ascetic as the cell of a
Franciscan. There is usually a large
rug upon the floor, and over in the
farther corners mattresses covered with
blankets and provided with pillows show
where the master and his pupils sleep
The shelves on the walls are filed with
books, manuscripts. cooking utensils and
other articles. There is usually a table,
a chest and a trunk or two.
Each cell is assigned to a Mullah and
is occupied by him and sofia or stu
dent of his choice. They live together
and are in constant companionship night
and day for several years, getting their
frugal meals in comon kitchen, which
is attached to every medresse, and in
dulging in such luxuries and comforts as
their means will permit.
l shall have to postpone the description
of the methods of instruction to another
letter.
CELESTIAL BASE BALL
From the Omaha Bee.