The Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble includes mausolums and other ritual buildings of 11th – 15th and 19th centuries. The name Shah-i-Zinda (meaning “The living king”) is connected with the legend that Qutham inn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, is buried here. He came to Samarkand with the Arab invasion in the 7th century to preach Islam. Popular legends speak that he was beheaded for his faith but he didn’t die, took his head and went into the deep well (Garden of Paradise), where he’s still living. (wiki)

I stood at the gate of Paradise.

29june23