Palaces to visit Uzbekistan

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.

The summer residence of the khans of Bukhara is located in a huge park of more than 6 ha, 5 km from the city. It is a privileged place for walking because of its coolness, especially during the hot summer hours. A first palace surrounded by gardens was built by Amir Akhad Khan at the end of the 19th century. Alim Khan, his son, added a new building in 1914. Bukhara's last khan had studied in St. Petersburg, and his way of life was affected. He commissioned a palace that was undoubtedly intended to be at the cutting edge of modernity, blending Russian architecture with the decorative style of Central Asia. The result is surprising. The tour includes three different bodies of buildings, which have been transformed into museums: the apartments and reception rooms of Alim khan, the octagonal palace and the harem. The reception rooms of Emir Alim Khan, built in a row, in the western style, are a contribution of the Russian architects working at the court of the Emir. The white room is a unique work of art, its walls are entirely covered with finely chiselled white gantch on a background of mirrors. The construction of this Bukhar version of the Ice Palace took three years, during which the architect refused the khan entry to the construction site. When Alim Khan was finally able to admire the result, he was overwhelmed and, resuming the good old ancestral habits, decided to have the architect killed so that he could not share his art with others. Fortunately, Chirin Muradov, the architect of the clean room, was warned in time and managed to escape. At the entrance, a high boudoir is decorated with stalactite niches in which are painted unusual and beautiful bouquets of multicoloured flowers. The walls and ceiling of the games room and waiting room are entirely decorated with gold panels, covered with an extraordinary and somewhat oppressive mosaic of mirrors. The banquet hall is the most original and sumptuous, it had four decorative walls, one for each season, which were changed thanks to a mechanism that no one remembers, but, in any case, the other three decorations disappeared after the revolution. In these rooms are displayed various gifts offered to the Emir, including an original all-glass refrigerator. The mirzo-khona, or secretary's room, is the most sober of the rooms, its three-wing mirror is, it seems, magical. Looking at it, you have to make a wish, which comes true within 40 days... At the end of the building, the veranda exposes a beautiful collection of antique vases from all over the world. The octagonal palace is a museum devoted to national costume, where ceremonial clothes, multicoloured khalat or dark paranjas are displayed amidst pictures of the princely family. Clothes were usually made by women, but gold thread designs were embroidered only by men. The octahedral hall for guests was originally decorated with gold leaf; after the revolution, gold would have been replaced by bronze and taken to Russia. The harem houses the Embroidery Museum. The different decorative techniques are illustrated by one of the most beautiful collections of suzani from Uzbekistan. In front of the harem is a large body of water. It is said that the Emir used to sit in the domed platform that borders this pool to watch his wives bathe, and would choose the chosen one from his heart by throwing an apple at her.

The construction of the Kagan Palace was launched in 1895 and took just under 10 years. The Emir of Bukhara, inspired by the Petersburg palaces, wanted to be able to receive the Tsar with great pomp on his next trip to Central Asia. The railway line now connects his lands to the lands of the Russian emperor, and he must be able to be accommodated in a stately manner when he gets off the train. This is how the construction work began, led by a Russian architect who was able to recreate the style of St. Petersburg. The result: an enormous white palace, a bit of a cream pie where the tsar will never set foot. First he was delayed by other matters, then the Bolshevik revolution turned everything upside down. The palace remained empty for its first years, welcoming a few visiting dignitaries and banned from staying in the holy city of Bukhara because they were not Muslims. In 1920, the arrival to power of the socialists gave it a completely different orientation from its original purpose: it was transformed into a social centre for railway workers. Events were held there in the magnificent banquet hall. Today, the palace is the property of the municipality, which has set up a small railway museum of little interest. But take the time to walk around the building: the exterior, with its turrets, its architecture mixing Moorish, Oriental and Russian Imperial styles is worth a look and shows how much the Emir had tried to please the Tsar.

Citadel in the heart of the inner city, Tash Khauli was built from 1831 to 1841. Behind high walls, the khan built this palace including an audience hall, the royal apartments and a harem. The Khorezm craftsmen were renowned for the quality of their decorations and their woodwork; the iwans of the harem, as well as those of the judgment hall and the audience hall, are the best illustration of their perfect mastery. From 1841, the "stone palace" became the main residence of the khan of Khiva.

Located 2 km southwest of Uzs, the summer palace of Muhammad Rakhim khan was built at the end of the th century. It is a set of three courses subtly decorated with blue and so majoliques of iwan behind which are the apartments, as in the palaces of Ichan kala. The palace also features a summer mosque and a winter mosque. A large pool brought freshness to the whole. Although years old, the summer palace, like Nouroullah Bey's palace, is already equipped with European windows. Just next door, we visit the residence of Islam Khodja, with architecture that is also characterised by European influence.