Guided tour through the Old Town of Khiva -Part2

Part 2 of our guided tour through the old town of Khiva starts with another craft business, carpet weaving. The courtyard of the building serves as an exhibition space for the beautiful carpets. The raw material and the finished products are stored in side-rooms. While the lady of the house talks to us, the daughter-in-law goes back to the loom.

Despite her great dexterity, it takes her months to finish a carpet. As our tour guide has problems to manually operate the water pump, she must also help out.

When we re-enter the street, a wedding couple is coming along, which of course we like to film and take pictures again. They are as well on the way to the main attraction in Khiva.

Pakhlavan Mahmoud Mausoleum

The tomb of Pakhlavan Mahmoud, a wrestler and poet, developed over time into a place of pilgrimage and was constantly expanded. Today, the tomb with the largest dome in Khiva contains not only the tomb of Pakhlavan Mahmoud but also the tombs of several khans.

A madrasa and a mosque are today part of the tomb complex. In a side chamber behind a locked door, which only allows the view through a window, is the extremely beautiful made sarcophagus. Believers come to pray here. A number of tombs have been created around the complex since many believers want to be buried near Pakhlavan Mahmoud.

On the opposite side of the road is the Sherg’ozixon Madrasas, built by 5000 Persian slaves. After the completion of the building, they should gain the freedom. However, when the Khan began to grumble shortly before completion and it was foreseeable that he would not keep his promise, he was murdered by the slaves without further ado.

Juma Mosque

We circle the complex and arrive at the Juma Mosque. The mosque consists of a hall whose roof is supported by 215 elaborately carved pillars from different eras.

The oldest columns date from the 10th century, the most recent ones from the 17th or 18th century. The dark atmosphere and the scattered plants in the room give it a pleasant, cool atmosphere that invites you to linger.

Tash Khovli Palace

The Tash Khovli Palace also consists of several courtyards, whereby the first served as a reception area for the ruler, and the second as a courtyard for waiting and entertainment. The third and greatest courtyard was the harem. In a certain way, it reminds of a prison. Today, polygamy is banned in Uzbekistan, but obviously, it is on the rise, as is Islam in general. On the way here, a man walked in front of us. Someone mentioned that he has 40 women.

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Next to a small exhibition, especially with pictures of craftsmen and artists, is the bedroom of the Khan, where he amused himself with his wives.

Khoja Islam Minaret and Mosque

The Khoja Islam Minaret is the highest in Khiva. We decide to climb up the next day.

Now we only look around in the mosque and visit a small exhibition. It shows different old and precious carvings and potteries from the town.

Kutlug Murad inak Madrasah

The Kutlug Murad Inak Madrasah is one of the two mosques at the market square of Khiva. It was the first two-story madrasa of the city and was built on the model of the Madrasa in Bukhara. It should have been designed to be particularly magnificent, so the budget for the construction was exceeded several times.

The Khan wanted to be buried in this madrasa but was not allowed to be buried within the city because he had died outside of Khiva. So one made a breakthrough in the city walls and built a part of the madrasa outside the city, where he then was buried.

Alla Kuli Khan Tim Market

The covered market was built at the same time as the caravansary. It is roofed and offered cereals, fruits, soap, and candles.

It lies to the right of the Kutlug Murad inak Madrasah.

Abdullah Khan Madrassah

This madrasa is at the market square opposite the Kutlug Murad inak Madrasah. Actually, there are two madrasas.

One was built in honor of his mother and one for himself. The bigger one was for him.

Allakuli Khan Caravansary

The caravansary served the caravans as a resting-place for the merchants as well as a hotel for the overnight stay.

The goods were stored on the first floor while 105 rooms on the 2nd floor served as an overnight stay. The caravansary was converted later.

The dome-shaped covered part now houses a craft market.

Dekhon Bazaar

The Dekhon bazaar is the modern market of Khiva. Since we have already seen a number of markets within the last weeks, we do not stay here for a long time, although it is certainly worth seeing as well.

Nature museum

We visit the nature museum. The deformities of animals, such as a sheep with two bodies, or eight legs do not really inspire us. In other departments, one mainly shows pictures.

We prefer to visit an exhibition about the photographer and filmmaker Khudoibergan Devonov.

The museum is located next to the Khoja Islam Minaret. Khudoibergan Devonov lived from 1878-1938 and made films about the Khan of Khiva Esfandiar and his region.

Last stop on this day is

House Museum of Komil Khorezmy

Komil Khorazmiy (Komil Xorazmiy) was born in Khiva in 1825. He studied at the Madrasa in Khiva and made himself a name as a poet, calligrapher, musicologist, and statesman.

He spoke 5 languages and wrote his own pieces of music. As secretary of the king, he signed the peace agreement between Khiva and Russia, the so-called Gandimyan agreement, in 1873.

The name of the hotel and restaurant in which we spend the night in Khiva also resulted from the position, secretary of the king, Mirza Boshi. The current owners are the 4th generation after Komil Khorezmy.

At nightfall, we sit, slightly exhausted, on the roof terrace of our Hostel Mirza Boshi and enjoy dinner.

Please read on > Guided tour through the Old Town of Khiva -Part1

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