KHIVA: A CONSERVED HERITAGE WITHIN THE SANDS - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 113

transportation and health care. With its decorated facade, Islam Hoca ma-
drassah has a traditional structure. Its minaret, being the tallest in Khiva
with a length of 44.5 m and a base diameter of 9.5 m, resembles a light-
house (Fig. 15), and has served as a Watch Tower for Turkmen attacks.
It can be seen from all sides of the city and with its rich ornaments of
blue and green tiles, creates the impression of the Timur period (Asla-
napa, 1996). Today, the 42-room madrassah is serving as an applied local
handcrafts museum, with pieces ranging from local women's clothing to
architectural pieces (Macleod and Mayhew, 2004).
FIGURE 15 Islam Hodja Minaret (flickr.com, Photo by dalbera, CC BY 2.0).
Retrieved November 15, 2013 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/5586414709/
sizes/m/in/photolist
In Khiva, mausoleums built for religious leaders, khans or respected
people are usually covered with small domes. In or around the courtyards
of tombs, people frequently see graves with no tombstones, made in the
form of stone sarcophagi only with brick.
PAKHLAVAN MAHMOUD MAUSOLEUM COMPLEX
To the south of the Friday Mosque stands the most important mausoleum
of Khiva, built for Pakhlavan Mahmoud (1247-1325), an important poet