Uzbekistan - Central Asia - page 200

roof. Beside it is the old mint , now a muse-
um that exhibits bank notes and coins that
were minted here, including money printed
on silk. Unfortunately labeling is only in
Uzbek.
Straight ahead from the Ark entrance is
the restored, open-air throne¨room , where
khans dispensed judgement. The circular
area on the ground was for the royal yurt,
which the no-longer-nomadic khans still
liked to use.
At the back right corner of the throne
room, a door in the wall leads to a flight
of steps up to the watchtower , the origi-
nal part of the Kuhna Ark, set right against
the Ichon-Qala's massive west wall. It's well
worth paying the fee to climb up here - the
city views are extraordinary.
Mohammed¨Rakhim¨Khan¨
Medressa¨ MeDReSSA
( h 9am-6pm) East of the Kuhna Ark, across
an open space that was once a busy palace
square (and place of execution), the 19th-
century Mohammed Rakhim Khan Medres-
sa is named after the khan who surrendered
to Russia in 1873 (although he had, at least,
kept Khiva independent a few years longer
than Bukhara).
A hotchpotch of a museum within is
partly dedicated to this khan and his son,
Isfandiyar. Mohammed Rakhim Khan was
also a poet under the pen name Feruz.
Khiva's token camel , Katya, waits for
tourists to pose with her outside the me-
dressa's south wall.
o Kalta¨Minor¨Minaret¨ MiNAReT
Just south of the Kuhna Ark stands the fat,
turquoise-tiled Kalta Minor Minaret. This
unfinished minaret was begun in 1851 by
Mohammed Amin Khan, who according to
legend wanted to build a minaret so high he
could see all the way to Bukhara.
Unfortunately, the khan dropped dead in
1855 and it was never finished, leaving the
beautifully tiled structure looking distinct-
ly unusual and rather stumpy. It's currently
not possible to climb the structure.
East of the minaret, beside the
medressa, is the small, plain Sayid¨¨
Alauddin¨ Mausoleum , dating to 1310
when Khiva was under the Golden Horde
of the Mongol empire. You might find peo-
ple praying in front of the 19th-century
tiled sarcophagus.

Juma¨Mosque¨ MoSQUe
(Pahlavon Mahmud ko'chasi; Minaret admission
3000S; h 9am-6pm) Continuing east from the
Sayid Alauddin Mausoleum, the large Juma
Mosque is interesting for the 218 wooden
columns supporting its roof - a concept
thought to be derived from ancient Arabian
mosques. Six or seven of the columns date
from the original 10th-century mosque (see
if you can spot them), though the present
building dates from the 18th century. From
inside, you can climb the very dark stair-
way (clambering rather awkwardly past the
young Uzbek couples who use the staircase
for trysts) up to the pigeon-poop-splattered
gallery of the 47m Juma¨Minaret .
Allakuli¨Khan¨Medressa¨ MeDReSSA
Just east of the Juma Mosque, a lane lead-
ing north from Pahlavon Mahmud ko'chasi
contains some of Khiva's most interesting
buildings, most of them created by Allakuli
Khan - known as the 'builder khan' - in
the 1830s and '40s. First there's the tall Al-
lakuli Khan Medressa and the earlier Kut-
limurodinok¨ Medressa (1804-12), facing
each other across the street, with nearly
matching facades. The latter now houses an
art museum.
North of the Allakuli Khan Medressa are
the Allakuli¨Khan¨Bazaar¨&¨Caravanserai .
The entrance to both is through tall wood-
en gates beside the medressa. The bazaar
is a domed market arcade, still catering to
traders, which opens onto Khiva's modern
Dekhon¨Bazaar at its east end. Both ba-
zaars and the caravanserai were closed for
extensive renovations when we visited.
Opposite the Allakuli Khan Medressa to
the south are the 1855 Abdulla¨Khan¨Me-
dressa , which holds a tiny nature museum,
and little Ak¨Mosque (1657). The latter con-
tains the Anusha¨Khan¨Baths (Anushahon
hammomi) - closed at the time of our last
visit - and a carpet shop.
The East¨ Gate , a long, vaulted 19th-
century passage with several sets of im-
mense carved doors, bridges the baths and
the bazaar area. The slave market was held
here, and niches in the passage walls once
held slaves for sale. Just outside the gate is
a working mosque that overflows with wiz-
ened old men on Fridays.
Tosh-hovli¨Palace¨ PALACe
( h 9am-6pm) This palace, which means
'Stone House', contains Khiva's most