Mosaic façade in Registan Square, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

© da-kuk/Getty Image

Tile tales. Registan Square, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Gather 'round, explorers, as we tiptoe into the Registan Square in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan! Meaning 'sandy place' or 'desert' in Persian, Registan was the center of activity during the Timurid Empire. The square embodied the essence of the Timurid Renaissance, a period of cultural and intellectual revival, which spread throughout the Muslim world between the 14th and early 16th centuries CE.