The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, one of the Timurid Empire’s most celebrated monuments, was built in Samarkand between 1399 and 1405 after Timur’s return from his Indian campaign. Intended as a monumental Friday mosque for his capital, it may have been inspired by the Friday Mosque of Sultaniyeh. Commissioned in the name of Timur’s wife, Saray Mulk Khanum, it was, according to some accounts, actually initiated by her. The project pushed the construction techniques of the time to their limits, and structural problems appeared almost immediately. By the late 16th century, restoration efforts ceased under Abdullah Khan II, and centuries of neglect, earthquakes—most notably in 1897—and material scavenging reduced it to ruins. The mosque followed the classic four-iwan courtyard plan, enclosed by walls measuring 167 by 109 meters. Visitors entered through a towering 35-meter-high portal into a courtyard framed by domed iwans on each side, with the main sanctuary opposite the entrance. The largest dome, rising 40 meters, was hidden from the courtyard by a massive pishtak; its two-shell construction separated an interior dome, proportioned for the 30-meter-high hall, from the grander exterior cupola. More than 400 marble columns once supported the courtyard’s vaulted galleries, and four corner minarets marked the enclosure. At the center stood a monumental marble Quran stand dating to Timur’s time. Restoration began under the Soviet regime in the late 20th century, with domes, facades, and minarets rebuilt and decorative elements such as Quranic inscriptions added. Today, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains a defining example of the Timurid Renaissance, influencing later architecture in Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan.