KHIVA: A CONSERVED HERITAGE WITHIN THE SANDS - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 107

weeks by making one fourth of the population of the city participate in its
construction. All the crafts workshops and bazaar units are located behind
the walls. Although 10 gates existed in the construction of Dishpan Kala,
today only three gates are in use. In the eastern most gate Koy-Darvaza,
the upper floor is used for looking out, and the lower floor is composed
of guard rooms. Since this gate, with a length of more than 12 m leads to
Hazerasp, it is also called Hazerasp-Darvaz (Khiva, 1993). The northern
gate, Koy Darvaza, (Fig. 9) on the other hand, leading to Urganch, with
the four domes, two belts, three cylindrical towers decorated with blue
tiles on top and mosaic bricks on the body, presents itself as a magnificent
gateway (Mankovskaya, 1982).
FIGURE 9 Dishpan Kala Koy Darvaza Gate (sambuh.com).
Retrieved November 15, 2013 from http://sambuh.com/en/uzbekistan/cities/khiva/dishan-
kala.html
FRIDAY MOSQUE
Friday mosque, depicted the first time by Arab geographer Al-Makdisi,
with its 55 × 45 m. inscription dated 1789, is the biggest mosque of Khiva
and was constructed at a very central locale, at the crossroads of the two
main streets connecting the gates of Ichan Kala. Unlike the other mosques,
it lacks a courtyard and is fully enclosed, which suggests early Islamic
traditions with a single story and multicolumn architecture (Fig. 10) (Pro-
chazka, 1990). Its minaret, with upwardly tapering body and turquoise