What beauty in these mosques… Samarkand was one of the greatest places in the golden age of the Abassid Caliphate (800-1300 or about) whose capital was Baghdad, known for its famous street of the books since that time (I hope it is still the case). The street of booksellers where scholars came from all over the world to find knowledge in books ! Ahem, the kind of places I would wander around for years searching for treasures in books ! (one of my prefered activity.)
The magnificient decoration is an invitation to the mind of the believer to the beauty of God. In Europe, most churches were painted in the inside like the Sainte Chapelle of Paris:
MATTHEW'S ISLAND 
Dear Matt, greetings from Paris !
What beauty in these mosques… Samarkand was one of the greatest places in the golden age of the Abassid Caliphate (800-1300 or about) whose capital was Baghdad, known for its famous street of the books since that time (I hope it is still the case). The street of booksellers where scholars came from all over the world to find knowledge in books ! Ahem, the kind of places I would wander around for years searching for treasures in books ! (one of my prefered activity.)
The magnificient decoration is an invitation to the mind of the believer to the beauty of God. In Europe, most churches were painted in the inside like the Sainte Chapelle of Paris:
http://www.paris-photo.net/paris_sainte_chapelle.php
on Islam, let me indicate few sites:
http://thebeautyofislam.tumblr.com/
https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/beauty-of-islam
on Afghanistan, from a friend:
http://salamalaikum.tumblr.com/
and to have a glimpse at the diversity of our world, le seychellois:
http://polychelles.tumblr.com/
All the best ! Regards.
Franck.