Building sights in Khiva
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Ichon-Qala
The main entrance to the Ichon-Qala is the twin-turreted brick West Gate (Ota-Darvoza, literally 'Father Gate'), a 1970s reconstruction - the original was wrecked in 1920. The two-day ticket gives you access to all the sights and museums in the Ichon-Qala besides the Islom-Hoja Minaret, the Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum and the Akshaikh Baba Complex in Kuhna Ark. One highlight for which you do not need a ticket is the walk along the northwestern section of the wall, best at sunrise or sunset. The stairs are at the North Gate. The 2.5km-long mud walls date from the 18th century, rebuilt after being destroyed by the Persians.
Despite what the guards at the West Gate say, you ar…
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Kalta Minor 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. Had it been completed it surely would have been the world's tallest building, but the Khan dropped dead in 1855 and it was never completed.
East of the minaret, beside the medressa housing Restoran Khiva, is the small, plain Sayid Alauddin Mausoleum, dating to 1310 when Khiva was under the Golden Horde of the Mongol empire. You might find people praying in front of the 19th-century tiled sarcophagus. To the east is a Music Museum in th…
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Alloquli Khan Medressa, Bazaar & Caravanserai
The street leading north opposite the Aq Mosque contains some of Khiva's most interesting buildings, most of them created by Alloquli Khan - known as the 'builder khan' - in the 1830s and '40s. First come the tall Alloquli Khan Medressa (1835) and the earlier Kutlimurodinok Medressa (1809), facing each other across the street, with matching tiled façades.
North of the Alloquli Khan Medressa are the Alloquli Khan Bazaar and Caravanserai. The entrance to both is through tall wooden 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.
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