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Architectural Delights
Khiva's architectural
delights lie within the city wall in a relatively compact area. Most
visitors enter the old town through the West Gate (Ata-Darvaza).
Once inside, they find immediately on their left the
Kunya Ark, the
Old Citadel, which also includes elements dating from the fifth
century.
On their right is the Muhammad Amin Khan madrasah. The massive
Kaltar Minar minaret is a bit ahead. About 200 meters (near 200
yards) straight toward center of city, on the left, is the
Muhammad
Rakhimkhan madrasah located.
Past it, near the East Gate, is the 19th-century
Tash Khauli palace
and the Allah Kuli madrasah. A five-minute stroll south of the
center of city are the ancient
Sayyid Allovaddin and the lovely
Pakhlavan Mahmud mausoleums, the
Shergazi khan madrasah, and the
Islam Khodja minaret and Mosque.
Khiva glazed tiling
The glazed tiling of Khorezm has its own characteristic style, in a
muted palette of deep blue, light blue, and white, sometimes with
touches of brown, though what has survived fails to reach the
intensity and quality of that of Samarkand. Only one of the
traditional geometrical patterns common in Bukhara and Samarkand,
the five-pointed stars in pentagons, are used in Khiva. Khivan
decoration more often uses exceptionally lovely floral or twining
vine and leaf patterns.
Khorezm woodworkingIn Khorezm,
woodworking has long been an
art, and remarkable carved wooden columns and doors can be seen
almost everywhere.
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