Makhsumbobo Mausoleum

Makhsumbobo Mausoleum, also sometimes called Maxsumbobo. The mausoleum of the saint Makhsum Baba, built in the 19th century in the city of Samarkand, popular among the people. His epithet is Makhsum-bobo. Maxsumbobo was born in the 18th century in Fergana and lived 97 years. He spent part of his life in Samarkand, living near the Hazrat Khizr mosque. After his death, his body, according to his will, was probably brought to Samarkand and buried there.

The mausoleum is located in the historic centre of Samarkand, in the area called the old city, at the southern edge of the ancient Afrasiyob city, a few metres east of the Hazrat Khizr mosque, at the main entrance gate of Hazrat Khizr. The cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city. 170 metres north‑east of the Makhsumbobo mausoleum, within the Hazrat Khizr cemetery area, lies the Nuriddin Basir mausoleum.

The mausoleum building is constructed of baked brick on a special lime base that does not allow water penetration, and for this reason it has survived to the present day. The main entrance door of the mausoleum faces south‑east. The building is one‑storey and has two rooms, consisting of a rectangular tomb (mausoleum) and a rectangular chill room (special chamber). These two rooms are connected by a small door located in the centre of the separating wall. Each of these two rooms is placed under a separate dome. Through the door, one ascends from the tomb part of the mausoleum to the chill room above, where a dome is installed.

Together with other architectural, archaeological, religious and cultural monuments of Samarkand, it is a monument entered in the UNESCO World Heritage List under the name “Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures”.