Cards from Uzbekistan

This week i've only received cards twice and that makes a total of only 5 cards!!! That's probably my worst week in many, many months. I hope next one will be better.

Last tuesday i've received these cards from Uzbekistan, sent by Yuliya.

 This 1st card is from Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capital city and Yuliya's hometown.

Jami Mosque is a modern building, which has a very ancient history. Medieval mosque and madrasah, the foundation of which was laid in 1451 by Sheikh Ubaidullah Hoja Ahror, he was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Getting ready to move to Samarkand, the spiritual leader decided to build a mosque and madrasah for the residents of Tashkent, which is the basis of the central architectural complex. So the magnificent Jami Mosque appeared, or as it is also called the Friday Mosque.

In 1888, the main building maksouda, located in the western end, it was rebuilt, and the arch-domed gallery surrounding the courtyard were rebuilt in the residential khudjras. In 1868 the building was destroyed by a major earthquake, but was again restored by Russian tsar Aleksandr III. Today the building has fragments of the first construction and the original foundation. - in: http://www.tourstouzbekistan.com/en/sights/tashkent/jami-mosque.html

Jami Mosque is an architectural monument of XIV-XV centuries. It is the third largest mosque in Uzbekistan.

 The 2nd card is from Bukhara. It shows one of the most prominent landmarks in the city, the Kalyan minaret.

Kalyan minaret is a minaret of the Po-i-Kalyan mosque.

It was designed by Bako and built by the Qarakhanid ruler Mohammad Arslan Khan in 1127 to summon Muslims to prayer five times a day. It is made in the form of a circular-pillar baked brick tower, narrowing upwards. It is 45.6 metres (149.61 ft) high (48 metres including the point), of 9 metres (29.53 ft) diameter at the bottom and 6 metres (19.69 ft) overhead.

About a hundred years after its construction, the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around was destroyed by his men. It is also known as the Tower of Death, because until as recently as the early twentieth century criminals were executed by being thrown from the top. - in: wikipedia

 

On this last card there's an uzbek traditional wedding. This is the moment when the bride leaves her parents’ house to the groom’s house.

Wedding in the life of the Uzbeks is of great significance and is celebrated with a special solemnity. It consists of a number of ceremonies that should be performed without failure.

After mullah (Moslem priest) reads praying for the newly-weds and declares them husband and wife, the young people usually go to the office for official civil registration of marriage

 The climax of a wedding ceremony is the bride's leaving her parent's house for the house of her groom.

 Next morning after the wedding party the rite "Kelin salomi" - reception of the bride in her new family should be performed. The groom's parents, his relatives and friends give presents to the bride and she greets everyone with deep bow. - in: http://www.roxanatour.com/uzbekistan/tour_travel/uzbek_customs.html