Museum · Yunusabad District

Amir Timur Museum

Opened in 1996 for Amir Timur's 660th anniversary: more than 5,000 objects from the age of Timur and the Timurids, painted walls and an 8.5-metre crystal chandelier.

Independence199660 min1 min read

Photo: Petar Milošević · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

History and building

The museum opened on 18 October 1996, the year of Timur's 660th anniversary celebrations, next to the square that bears his name. The blue dome of the round three-storey building echoes the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum in Samarkand, and the upper two floors are devoted entirely to Timurid history.

The interior is lavish: marble, columns, murals in the manner of Persian miniatures and more than 20 kilograms of gold leaf. The main hall's crystal chandelier, 8.5 metres tall, is made up of 106,000 pendants, and the frescoes trace Timur's life and the country's history.

The collection

The museum holds more than 5,000 objects, over 2,000 of them on display, arranged around Timur's genealogy, rise to power, campaigns, diplomacy and trade, crafts, town planning, science and learning. A three-part panel in miniature style tells his life from birth to death, with images of the Ak-Saray Palace in Shahrisabz and the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and Gur-e-Amir in Samarkand. The museum also keeps a copy of the Uthman Quran.