Architecture sights in Khiva
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Kuhna Ark
To your left after you enter the West Gate stands the Kuhna Ark - the Khiva rulers' own fortress and residence, first built in the 12th century by one Oq Shihbobo, then expanded by the khans in the 17th century. The khans' harem, mint, stables, arsenal, barracks, mosque and jail were all here.
The squat protuberance by the entrance, on the east side of the building, is the Zindon (Khans' Jail), with a display of chains, manacles and weapons, and pictures of people being chucked off minarets, stuffed into sacks full of wild cats etc.
Inside the Ark, the first passage to the right takes you into the 19th-century Summer Mosque, open-air and beautiful with superb blue-and-whit…
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Juma Mosque
East of the Music Museum, the large Juma Mosque is interesting for the 218 wooden columns supporting its roof - a concept thought to be derived from ancient Arabian mosques. The few finely decorated columns are from the original 10th-century mosque, though the present building dates from the 18th century. From inside, you can climb the 81 very dark steps of the 47m Juma Minaret (1000S).
Opposite the Juma Mosque is the 1905 Matpana Bay Medressa, containing a museum devoted to nature, history, religion and the medressa itself.
East of the Juma Mosque, the 1855 Abdulla Khan Medressa holds a tiny nature museum. The little Aq Mosque dates from 1657, the same year as the Anusha …
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