GIS contribution to the collection and processing of the data for an architectural and graphic reconstruction of the Timurids’ gardens in Samarkand region

Abstract

The article is devoted to new methods of deep theoretical study and practical application of GIS tools for the architectural and graphic revival of the disappeared gardens of the Timurids of the 14th-15th centuries. The use of GIS technologies in the field of architecture and landscape art is undeniably effective, they expediently open up a number of previously unattainable opportunities. Besides, GIS provides possibilities to study the change in the geospatial environment through the ages to create data visualization and to determine historical changes in the geographical landscape of the Samarkand region. Create storytelling maps and matching them with old handmade maps, the author found out the location of 12 out of 17 Timurids’ gardens. The historical locations of architectural objects, such as citadels, fortress gates, mausoleums and tombs of religious figures, were identified, according to the descriptions of historians and chroniclers of the Middle Ages and Soviet archaeologists. In order to visualize historical data, all of them were indicated on an interactive storytelling map created by Author1 and served as reference points for the search for the disappeared gardens of Amir Temur.