Sher-Dor Madrasa

One of the three great madrasas framing the Registan in Samarkand, built in the seventeenth century and famous for the striking mosaic tigers and rising suns on its main portal. These images of living creatures are unusual in Islamic architecture and give the building its name, meaning bearing lions. Its ribbed turquoise domes and towering entrance arch mirror the earlier madrasa opposite. Inside, the courtyard is lined with former student cells around a central open space.