Shahrisabz boasts so many historic monuments that its old city has been made part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. Visitors to Shahrisabz tour these amazing monuments, which include Aq-Saray Palace, Kok Gumbaz Mosque, Hazrat-i Imam Complex, and the Tomb of Timur. Aq-Saray Palace was the ruler Timur's summer palace in the 1300s, and is also known as the White Palace. It was to be the grandest of Timur's buildings, and its archway is the widest in Central Asia, but today only parts of the palace remain. Travelers to Shahrisabz can stare in awe at the ruins of the 200-foot gate towers, which are covered with white, gold, and blue mosaic tiles and an inscription that reads "If you challenge our power, look at our buildings!" Kok Gumbaz Mosque was built in Shahrisabz in the 1400s and is named for its blue dome. Right behind the mosque is the so-called House of Meditation. The Hazrat-i Imam Complex is a series of buildings that includes a mosque and impressive geometric mausoleum, where Timur's oldest son is buried. Nearby is a recently-discovered underground chamber that was meant to be the tomb of Timur himself. However, Timur was buried in Samarkand instead of Shahrisabz, so the identities of the bodies in the chamber remain a mystery.
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