Shakhrisabz - Complex Chubin

The Chubin architectural Complex is located in the north-east of the city of Shakhrisabz, in the mahalla of the same name. There is no historical or literary data about the construction of the complex. The name “Chubin” most likely refers to the former home of a community of woodworkers.

The monument is a complex consisting of functionally interdependent limbs – mosque, hujra forming an inner courtyard, and darwosachona. The building plan of the main mosque complex is elaborated on two simultaneous axes.

The compositional centre of the building is the square hall, which is covered with a dome. On the west-east axis is a deep semi-octahedral niche that serves as the mekhrab and focal point of the interior.

On the same axis, to the east of the entrance to the mosque, is a semi-octahedral portal niche. On the north-south axis are two domed halls connected to the main hall by low-level openings and portal entrances overlooking the exterior facades.

The halls are flanked by symmetrical vaulted rooms that also face the exterior facades and have arched niches. The corner rooms are filled with vaulted enfilades of two rooms each. The outer facades of these rooms also have arched niches.

In the western enfilades there are additional passages from the main hall in the form of corridors. Thus, the floor plan conception of the building preserved conventional features adopted from the composite solution of similar monuments of the XIV – XV centuries.

The facades of the building have a conventional symmetry. The axis of symmetry of the three facades, north, east and south, is emphasised by portals. The levels of the pylons are transformed into small niches by the pilasters.

Arches with a four-centred ground plan are arranged in the niches. The ground plan of the monument can be described as central, with emphasis on the main façade facing the courtyard. The structural-spatial composition of Complex Chubin functionally relates to the architectural type of Khonaqo and plays a special role in the urban structure of Shakhrisabz, with a place in the system of architectural focal points of the historical city.