Beyond the bazaar, still on Kommunarov, there is another impressive kosh ensemble. The Ulug Bek madrasa (1417) on the left (north) is the oldest in Central Asia, and was the prototype for the synonymous and much more extravagant one built three years later in Samarkand. 'To strive for knowledge is the duty of each Muslim man and Muslim woman,' says the-for Ulug-Bek-typically enlightened inscription over the entrance. The architect, Ismail ibn Takhir ibn Makhmud Isfagani, was probably related to an Iranian captured by Tamerlane to work in Samarkand and Shakhrisabz. It is not usually possible to go inside, but the proportions and decoration of the facade, including the ceramic plaiting on its main lancet arch, contain much that was later associated with the 16th- century 

The phoenixes and snake-headed birds in the pishtaks mosaics represent a brave break with the Islamictradition of not depicting animal life. (Two other well-known porticoes which break the rule-those of the nearby Nadir Divanbegi madrasa and Samarkand's Sher Dor madrasa-are also mid - 17th century.) The rebellion did not catch on and, according to one Soviet guidebook, may even have  been fatal for this artist. Inside, frescoes of stylized landscapes betraying Chinese and Moghul Indian influence survive in the large ex-lecture hall, which now sells carpets, on the left. The red clay patterns on the roof and niches were originally dusted with gold; the cracks are from a 1976 earthquake. To the right of the entrance a former mosque now has a small exhibition of Bukharan woodwork. 

Return to Taq-i-Zargaran. Beneath the empty plot on the left are the foundations of an Indian caravanserai. Turn left (south) down ex-Ulitsa Frunze, and you pass on the left Tim Abdullahkhan (Abdullah Khan market). Single-entrance domed arcades like this used to line the whole street. This sole survivor is now a state silk shop. 

A little further down on the left an ancient frontage with steps to a raised entrance has been rebuilt in yellowish brick. Males should go in. Soap, shampoo, back-scrubber, basin, towel, locker and tea afterwards costs about 5 cents in rubles in Central Asia's oldest (16th - century) working public baths, though as a foreigner you may be amiably overcharged. The only light in the series of semi-subterranean stone caverns is natural and dim, filtering down from tiny skylights through the steam. You fill your basin to wash, then sit around on stone benches using the place as a mild sauna. The barber in the entrance can give directions to the nearby women's baths. 

Ulitsa Frunze now disappears into the twelve-sided Taq-i-Telpaq Furushon, the cap-makers' bazaar. Astrakhan hats and gold-embroidered skull caps are sold here as they have been since the 16th century. The main dome is lower but wider than at Taq-i-Zargaron, spanning the junction of five streets. 

The Magok-i-Kurpa mosque (1636-7), facing the bazaar's south-west corner, is unusual in having prayer halls on two floors, but is usually closed to visitors. 

Ulitsa Pushkina leads past the mosque, round the bazaar and along the top of a shady square whose west side consists of a row of jewellery and antique stalls which will diddle the dozy but may interest coin collectors. Round the square's south-west corner the 19th-century building which housed Central Asia's first Russian bank is now an art museum (closed Tues). 

[back]