Mausoleum of St. Daniel in Samarkand
Mausoleum of St. Daniel, Samarkand
Mausoleum of St. Daniel (Khoja Doniyor) - a mausoleum in Samarkand over the grave of one of the saints.
According to legendary information of the XVIII century, the ashes of the Old Testament biblical prophet Daniel (Daniyar) are buried in the mausoleum, the remains of which were brought to Samarkand and buried by the Central Asian medieval commander and conqueror Amir Timur (Tamerlan).
The current building of the mausoleum and the complex were built at the very beginning of the 20th century, in subsequent years the building of the mausoleum and the complex were reconstructed several times.
The mausoleum and the Khoja Doniyor complex are located in the northeastern part of the city of Samarkand, in the northeastern outskirts of the ancient city of Afrasiab, on a small hill, near the banks of the small Siab river.
According to the historical book Samaria by the Central Asian historian Abu Tahirhodzhi Samarkandi, the prophet Daniel (Daniyar) was one of the associates of the Islamic Arab preacher Kusam ibn Abbas, who played a key role in the planting of Islam in Samarkand and its environs.
In Christianity, the prophet Daniel is one of the so-called "great prophets", the author of one of the Old Testament biblical books - the books of Daniel. In Judaism, Daniel is also one of the revered prophets.
The occurrence of the burial of the prophet Daniel (Doniyor, Daniyar) is attributed to the Central Asian commander and conqueror Amir Timur (Tamerlan), who brought his remains to Samarkand in the late 1400s and built a mosque at the place of his burial.
The remains of the prophet were brought by the commander from the city of Susa (the modern territory of the Iranian ostans of Khuzestan) during his campaign in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) in 1399-1404.
According to legend, when a caravan of several dozen camels approached Samarkand, stopped on the banks of the Siab River, and the horse carrying the remains of the prophet stopped at the place where the tomb is now located. Amir Timur decided to bury the prophet in the place where the horse stopped.
Also, according to legend, from the impact of a horse’s hoof, a spring, which became healing, scored. After the construction of the mausoleum, over the years, according to legend, the grave began to grow, reaching a length of more than 17 meters (about 18 meters).
The mausoleum was periodically completed and extended by mullahs, and at the very beginning of the 20th century a rectangular long building of the mausoleum with a chain of five low domes was built over the grave of the prophet.
Inside the building of the mausoleum is a long dahma, in which the prophet is buried. On the territory of the complex of the mausoleum is a spring, considered healing and holy. Many pilgrims drink water from a spring, hoping to heal their illnesses or simply to be sanctified. Also, an iwan for prayer was built on the territory of the complex.
In 1996, the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II during his visit to Uzbekistan visited Samarkand, in particular the mausoleum of Khoja Doniyor. Near the crypt was a dried pistachio tree, which the patriarch decided to consecrate, and after some time the tree came to life again.
In 2001, the city of Samarkand and its historical architectural and archaeological monuments, including the mausoleum and the Khoja Doniyor complex, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Samarkand - Crossroads of Cultures".
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