The Kok-Gumbaz mosque madrassah with its sky-blue dome seems to cover the city, soar above it. Thanks to the color of the tiled dome, it got its name (literally translated, in Russian it will sound like a “blue dome”). The main decoration of the western part of the city was built 5 centuries ago on the idea of Abdulatif Sultan, whose father – Ulugbek – was a famous philosopher and astronomer, a descendant of Amir Timur.
The centuries-old story about the construction of the legendary mosque tells that Abdulatif did not get along with his father and after leaving home he found shelter with an old dekhkanin. But he got a job at him: digging a ditch, in order to irrigate his plot of land. Having learned about this, the father took from the peasant 100 tenge, which he had to pay his son, and adding his own built them madrassas. Which, by the way, served a good service, as evidenced by students who even studied in it in the 19th century.
The Kok-Gumbaz itself is distinguished by a square brick, laid the foundation of the main building, elegantly painted, even by the standards of mosques, walls and niches that extend the main hall to all four corners of the world. The niche with the mihrab stands out among its brethren with rich sculpting, and the main portal, which is the entrance, like the dome, is generously decorated with majolica.
