Things to see and do Khorezm Area

From the outside, nothing, or almost nothing, allows us to guess the grandiose character of the Friday mosque. The monotony of a long blind wall is interrupted by an imposing double door made of finely crafted wood. A slender minaret, 33 m high, dominates the ensemble. The interior is more than surprising: a forest of carved wooden columns supports the ceiling of the mosque. Each pillar seems to have its own story, one of the most famous being the one from India. Its decoration is abstract, as is Islam, but one can nevertheless guess a human representation. By taking the time to study the various ornamentations, one can discover Zoroastrian symbols, representations of the Buddha, etc. Wealthy pilgrims or merchants who came to Khiva to do business sometimes offered the mosque a column carved in the style of their city, which would replace another column that was too old. The oldest, about fifteen in all, date from the 10th and 11th centuries. In total, the mosque has 213 columns, all of different ages and designs. The architecture of the Juma Mosque corresponds to the style of the first mosques that were gathering places. It commented on the Koran, but also discussed other issues relating to the organization of the social life of believers. The mihrab is placed in the centre of the huge hall 55 m long and 45 m wide. The light enters through two octagonal openings in the ceiling.

Located outside the madrasah, at the eastern corner of its façade, Kalta Minor was to be the highest minaret in the Muslim world, rising to 70 m. An architectural challenge for the time, but above all a height that was never reached, the work having been abandoned after the death of the khan when the minaret barely reached 29m. According to legend, the Khan of Bukhara, learning of the project from his rival Khiva and not being able to suffer from living in the shadow of a minaret larger than the Kalon minaret (it was said that when it was completed, Bukhara could be seen from its summit), planned to have the architect removed so that he could come and erect an even larger minaret in his city. What he learned, and so that his knowledge would benefit no one else, Khiva's khan decided to assassinate the architect as soon as his work was completed. As the Bukhara Khan matured the same project, the architect finally fled without asking for the rest, and the minaret remained forever truncated. The "short minaret" therefore only rises to 29 m, leaving the title of highest minaret in Bukhara: the Kalon minaret measures 49 m! The Kalta Minor nevertheless rests on a wide 14 m base, and is entirely and superbly decorated with green and blue majolica married to the distinctive green of Khiva. It is not usually possible to go up there, as the place is closed to tourists, but you can try your luck with the staff of the Orient Star Hotel, which has opened in the adjoining madrasah.

The museum has a unique collection of Soviet avant-garde and post-avant-garde paintings assembled by Igor Savitsky. Despite the risk of being denounced as anti-communist and being deported to Siberia, this enthusiast managed to save more than 90,000 works by artists repressed during the Stalinist period, which he stored in the archives of the Nukus Museum. Nukus was far from Moscow and its totalitarian power, and the paintings were forgotten by the world, like a treasure buried in the sands of the desert. They only reappeared with perestroika and in 1988 a first exhibition was held at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. It includes works by Robert Falk, Yevgeny Lyssenko, Liubov Popova, David Chterenberg, Alexander Volkov, Alexander Nikolaev, known as Usto-Moumin, Vasily Rojdestvenski and works by Sokolov during his years in the Gulag. There is also a collection of copies that belonged to Fernand Léger, including works such as the portal of the Fountain of the Innocents. It is a treasure that alone justifies the trip to Noukous. The museum also has a floor dedicated to Karakalpak handicrafts. Once again, it is a unique collection of jewellery, fabrics, clothing: 8,000 pieces in total to present this little-known people, including in Uzbekistan.

However, despite the great wealth of the collection on display, less than 10% of the total works collected by Igor Savitsky have joined the museum.

For more than a thousand years, several palaces were periodically destroyed and rebuilt in the same place. The oldest building still standing is the Ak Sheik Bobo Tower, dating from the 12th century. In the 17th century, Arang Khan, the son of Anusha Khan, built around the ruins of this fortified tower a throne room and the walls protecting the palace from outside and inside the city. But it was under Altuzar Khan, the founder of the Kungrad dynasty at the beginning of the 19th century, that the construction of the present palace began. It included several inner courtyards where the mosque, the guard, the chancellery, the throne room, the mint and the harem were located. The empty space behind the large gates of the palace once included various courtyards. In the first one, the visitors were in the antechamber, in the second one was the guard, then came the chancellery. To the right of this large courtyard is the Summer Mosque (1838). Its immense iwan with six columns and walls covered with blue majolica is of breathtaking beauty: glazed tiles with vegetal arabesques and geometric designs made by renowned 19th century master craftsmen Abdullah and Ibadulla Djinn.

The Mint, located at the end of the inner courtyard, is now transformed into a museum. In the 19th century, working in finance in Khiva had little to do with the life of a golden boy. In order that their knowledge might not disperse, those who minted the coins there were prisoners in the old citadel, and did not come out until after their death. It is in the second inner courtyard, Kurinish Khana, built in 1804, that the khan received his subjects under the shelter of high walls. The throne room itself consists of a long empty room with high ceilings. The silver-leaf veneered wooden throne in the large niche at the back of the room was unfortunately "emigrated" to Russia. Carved and gilded gantch (wood) panels decorate the walls and the ceiling is also richly decorated with polychrome geometric patterns.

The two-column iwan, open to the north to take advantage of the cooler winds during the warmer months, is decorated with majolica in cool colours made with cobalt powder for blue or copper for green. The ceiling, on the other hand, is decorated with warm colours, yellow and red, Zoroastrian symbols of sun and fire. The sun or stars, often symbolized on the ceilings, consecrate the khan as an intermediary between earth and sky, thus God. The wooden doors as well as the columns are entirely carved. Their flared and hollowed base allowed them to be driven onto their marble or wooden base, insulating the wood from the stone with camel's wool, which was said to have anti-seismic properties. Some say that this iwan was the harem, but the women's apartments were actually in the northern part of Kounia Ark. Built at the end of the 19th century by Muhamad Rakhim Khan II, they are unfortunately closed to the public. From the interior of Kounia Ark, a small staircase leads to Ak-Cheikh-Bobo, "the tower of the white sheik", built in the 12th century and so named in memory of the sheik who lived there in the 14th century. At the same time royal residence, guard tower and watchtower, it offers, from its iwan on the upper floor, a panoramic view.

Its five high, single-column iwans open onto a long inner courtyard lined with a string of summer and winter apartments. Five iwans: one for the khan and the other four for each of his wives... The figure has made several generations of tourists dream, but it is very classic and does not take into account the captives who lived in bulk in the rooms surrounding the courtyard. The apartments of the khan and his wives all have the same architecture: a high iwan open to the northeast, to avoid the baking sunlight of the summer months, and a small adjoining room that is supposed to keep a bearable temperature during the winter months. The slaves and family members of the khan's women lived in the rooms and small iwans lining the courtyard. The ensemble was decorated by the best craftsmen of the time, whose talent seems to have been evident in all parts of the construction: neither the openwork windows of the winter rooms, nor the finely chiselled wooden columns, nor the wooden coffers of the ceilings painted with geometric motifs. The walls of the iwans, entirely decorated with blue and white majolica, are due to the master craftsman Abdullah Djinn who also built the Ark Mosque. The stylistic resemblance is obviously striking, but the proportions are more important here. The walls of the iwans are painted in cool colours while the ceilings are painted in warm colours. At the end of the harem is a room with a ceiling supported by ten wooden columns.

Opposite the entrance to the palace, on the other side of the square is the madrasah of the poet khan, known under the pseudonym of Ferouz. The huge portal of the madrasa opens onto a first courtyard surrounded by a floor of cells, an area for traders. The construction follows a square plan, but is characterized by a vaulted passage with 8 domes, the largest in Khiva. Through a second portal, the first courtyard leads to the interior of the madrasa, which houses a museum dedicated to Ferouz.

The highest minaret of Khiva (44.50 m) was built in 1910 by the vizier of Isfandiar Khan, Islam Khodja. It is one of the last Islamic architectural achievements in Central Asia. The minaret had a triple role: religious (the muezzin calls for prayer), military (like the Kalon minaret of Bukhara, it is an ideal observation post to prevent frequent attacks) and that of being an ideal landmark so that one does not get lost in the desert or ... in a city full of meanders. Its slender shape and colourful rings narrowing towards the top would almost make it appear taller than the Kalon Minaret, although it still yields to it nearly 4 m. To have Khiva at your feet and a view of the surrounding desert, take a breath, the minaret has 120 steps. The Islam Khodja Madrasa, built in 1908, is small in size, only the façade has two levels to harmonize with the powerful minaret. The Wazir Islam Khodja was a reformer, but he had the misfortune of serving Isfandiar Khan with a sulphurous reputation. He still managed to build a hospital, to have the telegraph installed in Khiva, but was assassinated when he tried to reform the education system. The madrasa now houses the Museum of Applied Arts where woodwork, carpets, hangings, etc. are on display

Turning right after the minaret leads to a street parallel to the main street, leading to the Pakhlavan Makhmoud Mausoleum.

Pakhlavan Makhmoud (1247-1325) is the patron saint of the city. He was an outstanding character: a furrier of his state, he was also an outstanding wrestler, a great warrior and a poet. Coming from the Kungrad tribe, he is considered the spiritual founder of the dynasty. His tomb was built on the site of his furrier's workshop, and in 1810 he was included in the dynastic mausoleum of the khans kungrad. While the first mausoleum was modest in appearance, it was not until the 19th century that it acquired its present appearance. A high portal leads to an inner courtyard overlooked by the khanaka topped by a drum and a turquoise-blue dome, a summer mosque and annex buildings housing the tombs of the mother and son of Isfandiar Khan. In the courtyard there is also a well where newlyweds wishing to have a child come to drink. The majolica that decorates the interior of the khanaka is breathtakingly beautiful. The walls and the dome are entirely covered with blue and white vegetal arabesques in which are inserted poems by Pakhlavan Makhmoud. These majolica were made by the famous Abdullah Djinn. The tomb of Pakhlavan Makhmud is located in an adjoining room to the left of the main hall. Pilgrims come to gather in front of the openwork gate that protects his tomb. The tombs of Khans Abdul Gazi (1663), Anucha (1681) and Muhammad Rakhim are placed in the khanaka.

" The doors of the Father ", or doors to the west, were the main doors of the city. They had a bazaar and also hosted the changers. Destroyed in 1920, they were restored by the Soviets in 1975. It is usually by these doors that tourists begin their visit to the old town and buy tickets that give them access to all monuments inside (except access to minarets and watch towers).

It was built, about ten years before the arrival of the Bolsheviks, by Muhammad Rahim Khan, known as Ferouz. The marriage of oriental styles with the luxury of St. Petersburg is striking and testifies to the fascination exerted on the last khans by the sumptuous life of the tsars. The palace, entirely enclosed by walls, consists of a large garden in the north-west quarter, a vast reception hall, official lounges, the khan's apartments: in total, more than a hundred rooms, galleries in all directions, courtyards lined with iwan..

Here you will find friendly, English-speaking staff ready to provide you with practical information about possible expeditions to the citadels of the desert and Karakalpakstan. Accompanied by local guides, we can offer you two tours: a short one including three citadels and two lakes, or a long one with the discovery of six citadels and two lakes. It is also possible to organise a visit to Djampik kala and the Bala Tugaï reserve.

This is the oldest monument in Khiva. A mausoleum with dome and portal was built in the early 14th century around the tomb of Sufi sheik Said Alauddin who died in 1303. A ziatkhona, a small room through which one reaches the tomb, was added to it under Allah Kouli khan in the 19th century. The tomb covered with majolica with blue and white vegetal motifs is the work of Amir Kulal, a ceramist from Bukhara. Despite the presence of two graves, only one body lies in the tomb

The Biruni Bridge leads to the eponymous town, 15 kilometres north-east of Urgentch, and is named after the encyclopaedist Al-Biruni (973-1050), who was born there. Few drivers know this, but you can go and see his tomb on the right a little after crossing the bridge, a stone's throw from the ruins of Xat Kala. The body of the great Muslim scholar who, 600 years before Galileo, claimed that the earth could only be spherical in shape, lies in the shelter of a small octagonal mausoleum.

The Bavianov family, based in Khiva in Ichan kala, has 10 new and comfortable cars. All have air conditioning, are clean and perfectly maintained. All the men in the family have been working as drivers in the area for years and their reputation has not diminished over time. Gulam is young, dynamic and speaks some English. Above all, he knows the region like the back of his hand and will not lose you on the sometimes complicated and somewhat hidden paths of the desert fortresses. Call ahead to set a date.

This fortress has a set of high walls behind which the garrison of Toprak kala was sheltered. It is well worth the detour, but the runoff of rain over the centuries has considerably weakened its foundations. And the comings and goings of tourists who take advantage of the lack of demarcation to survey the ramparts has obviously not helped. Some renovations have taken place in recent years, so no matter how spectacular the views are, try to respect what remains of the walls when you visit.

The citadel immediately impresses with its vast expanse. The walls have been rather well preserved and it is possible to go almost all the way around without going down. Just as in Ayaz kala, Djambaz kala is in the middle of the desert and occupies a particularly photogenic site, near a lake, populated only by a few eagles and marmots. Observe the huge sand dunes that form on the sides of the walls and which bear witness to the silting up of the region following the disappearance of the Aral Sea. 500 yards away, yurt camp.

Once you are in front of the Aral Desert, which stretches as far as the eye can see, you may be tempted to move forward until you see what is left of this sea. It takes 2 hours of driving in the dunes and sand. Of course, it's impossible to do this without an adapted 4x4, so don't try to venture out in a sedan: you'd be sanded up in no time. Specialized agencies can organize the excursion for you, which we nevertheless recommend: the landscapes are magnificent and you really feel alone in the world. Look out! Don't go alone without a guide if you don't know the road: there is no path and no indication of direction (we are in the middle of the desert). Also, check the weather forecast before starting the trip. If rain is forecast, postpone it: the Aral Desert is a basin below sea level (obviously since it is actually the seabed) and with the heavy rains in the region, some basins can fill up to one meter of water in the space of 5 minutes! It seems unlikely, but it has happened to unconscious tourists who have been stuck on the roof of their Jeep for 24 hours without being able to call for help. In this case, you have to wait for the blazing sun to evaporate all the accumulated rain. When you return, clean all your clothes and insist on shoes: salt and pesticide residues carried by the water and left on the sand are very corrosive.

the "Father's Gates", or western gates, were the main gates of the city. They housed a bazaar and also hosted money changers. Destroyed in 1920, they were restored in 1975 by the Soviets along with the walls on both sides. It is generally by these very photogenic doors, with their adobe brick towers enhancing the turquoise ceramics of the Kalta minor, the "short minaret", located just behind, that the tourists begin their visit of the old city and buy the tickets.

It appears as a village of isolated white houses in the desert at the foot of a mountain. Photogenic image at will creating already a mysterious atmosphere conducive to the visit of the site. A vast cemetery surrounds the mausoleum of Sultan Uvays Bobo, a giant who was said to measure no less than 12 metres! The locals can take you to the nearby Sultan Uvays Mountains to show you his footprints. It is a famous place of pilgrimage that has kept an atmosphere out of time. Feel free to go there during the Navruz period.

On a little more than 6,000 hectares, hares, deer, wolves, wild pigs, desert cats, foxes and a flock of colourful birds rub shoulders. Created in the 1970s, the reserve is all that remains of a forest originally five times its size, which disappeared when the Soviets made room for the cotton fields. It is possible to spend the day there with a guide or to go for a horse ride. To be sure to see active animals, sunrise and sunset are the best times of course.