Catalog:

1. Tash-Darvaza (30-40th of the 19th century-1873) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
   The southern gate of Ichan-Kala, built in the 30-40s of the 19th century during the reign of Allakulykhan. This is a six-chamber structure with a two-dome passageway along the central axis. On each side of the passageway there are four domed customs and guards rooms. The gate was used by caravans coming from the Caspian Sea. The southern main facade is flanked with massive towers on the sides and the northern - with decorative guldasta. Size: on the plan - 9.7x17 m; height - 9.3 m.
   Rating: 445


2. Shaikh Mukhtar Ata Mosque (1810-1835) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
   Is a mahalli (quarter) mosque and is adjacent to the northern section of the Pahlavan Mahmud mausoleum and was built in 1810-1835. The mosque consists of winter premises, taharathana (a body washing room for the dead) and a tall summer single-column avian (gallery). Restored in 1997.
   Rating: 440


3. Gandimyan-Darvaza (1842-1970) - (Dishan-Kala) ^www
   Named after a nearby village where the Gandimyan Treaty was signed in 1873 making the Khiva Khanate a part of the Russian Empire. Torn down to make space for a cotton-processing factory, the Gandimyan Gate was fully reconstructed during the 1970s from old drafts and photographs.
   Rating: 412


4. Bagcha-Darvaza (19th century) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
   The northern gate of Ichan-Kala is a chambered building of bilateral symmetrical design built in the fortress wall. The southern facade, facing Ichan-Kala, is less impressive. Though similar in design, it is reduced in size and the revak is missing. Unlike Tash-Darvaza, the stairways leading upward stand out from the interior of monolithic southern corner towers and are placed on their sides, deep inside the wall of Ichan-Kala. Size: on the plan - 18,0 x 16,0 m; height - 8,5 m.
   Rating: 411


5. Palvan-Darvaza (1804-1806) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
   The eastern gate of Ichan-Kala also used as trade stalls. The gate looks like "dash kucha" (a stone corridor). The structure is stretched from west to east, the facades are shaped as arch portals, with six domes blocking the passageway and side arches accommodating trading stalls, two on each side. At the entrance, from the side of Ichan-Kala, there is an inscription reading "Shakhri Khiva" (Khiva city), where letters stand for figures giving the construction date as 1221, i.e. 1806 AD. This is the oldest part of the building, which is connected with Anushakhan bath-house and blocked with two small domes. The gate was finished by Allakulykhan in 1835. To the right of the gate at the exit from Ichan-Kala there used to be a slave market until 1873 and niches inside the gate were where fugitive and rebellious slaves were awaiting their lot. To the right of the gate at the exit from Ichan-Kala there used to be a slave market down to1873 and niches inside the gate were where fugitive and rebellious slaves were awaiting their lot. There were also usages to read the Khan farmans (decrees) and punished criminals at front at this gate. Hence the name for the gate, which, among ordinary people, were known as Pashshab darvaza (the Executioners Gate), Kul darvaza (the Slaves Gate). Size: on the plan - 51.76 x 17.5 meters; big domes 5.2 m. in diameter; two smaller domes - 4.5 m.; stalls - 2.8 x 4.4 m.
   Rating: 407


6. Sayyid Niyaz Shalikarbay Minaret (1835 to 1845) - (Dishan-Kala) ^www
   It is located next to a madrasah with the same name. It was built by architects with a well-developed sense of proportion and delicate artistic taste. The minaret is one of the oldest in Khiva. The upper part of the minaret is equipped with four large arched openings. Dimensions: height is 24 m.; foundation diameter is 4 m.
   Rating: 406


7. Abdulla Khan Madrasah (1855) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
   The Madrasah is located on the western side of Aq mosque. It was built by Abdulla Khan's mother in 1855 in honor of Murad Inaq's son who had been killed at the age of 17 in the fight against Turkmen yomuds. The Madrasah was constructed with a lot of deviations from the canonic madrasah design. Rectangular when viewed from above, with guldasta towers on the corners, is elongated along the east-west direction and symmetrical on the whole. Contrary to the custom, there are two entrances to the madrasah.
   Rating: 404


8. The walls of Ichan-Kala - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
   The municipal walls are a rare example of medieval fortifications that lasted till the present; they also give the city the air of majesty. The city of Khiva was surrounded by two walls - Ichan-Kala and Dishan-Kala, which makes it different from other places. Ichan-Kala foundation was built between 5th and 4th century BC rising over the level of Dishan-Kala, probably due to the natural relief (according to the legends, the city was founded on a sand hill) The municipal walls made of adobe bricks (40x40x10 cm) were rebuilt several times in the course of centuries. Ichan-Kala wall is 8 till 10 meters high, 6 till 8 meters wide and 2250 meters long. There are massive round defensive towers protruding out of Ichan-Kala walls at the interval of 30 meters. The top of the walls and towers is lined with toothed parapet with slit loopholes to fight off attackers during a siege. The system of defensive fortifications included water-filled ditches; even now traces of those ditches can be noticed in the micro-relief in the south area while asphalt streets cover former ditches in the north and west.
   Rating: 402


9. Atadzhan-tura Mosque and Madrasah (1893-1899) - (Khiva District) ^www
   The Atajan Tura Mosque and Madrasah were built in 1893-99 by the young brother of Sayid Muhammad Rahimkhan II (Feruz) Atajan Tura who was briefly declared Khan during the Russian siege of the city. On June 1 1873 Atajan Tura wrote a letter to the legitimate Khan Sayid Muhammad Rahim on request from the first Governor-General of Turkistan Kaufman asking him to get back to Khiva. On August 12 1873 the Khiva Khanate and Russia signed the Gandimyan Treaty. The complex comprises a summer and winter mosques, a madrasah, a school, a bathhouse etc. They are now fully restored and serve as a folk arts center.
   Rating: 398


10. Payando Mausoleum (16th century) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    This one-domed portal mausoleum with a basement burial vault located on the south side of Dzhuma Mosque. The facade is equipped with high east-facing portal deco-rated with a pattern of ganch. Three meters in front of the portal is an underground passage, which serves as a special entrance to the burial place. There is a ziaratkhana in the upper room.
    Rating: 397


11. Allah Kuli Madrasah (1834 to 1835) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    The madrasah is located in the space between the tim and the eastern gate Palvan-Darvaza. Its main facade faces the yard of Hojashberdibiy Madrasah. Viewed from above, the madrasah is a rectangle with a four-ayvan two-storey yard and beveled corners. Several hudjras of the first floor above the vestibule housed the municipal library founded by Allah Kuli, which provided books for students from all Khiva madrasahs. The library was maintained at the account of income from Caravanserai and Allah Kuli Khan's tim. While there is nothing particular in the Allah Khan Madrasah architecture, it is quite impressive due to the concentrated it of the main and yard facades. Predominant is Khorezm-type majolica in dark-white and blue colors; pictures in black contours are in tympanums as well as in the frames of the double arcade and three quarter columns of the portal.
    Rating: 393


12. Hasan Murad Kushbegi Mosque (1800) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    The Khasan Murad Kushbegi Mosque (the chief of the Khan's security detail) was built in the late 18th century. Located behind the Musa Tura Madrasah at Ichan-Kala, it was jointly erected by Khasan Murad Kushbegi and his relative Shah Niyaz. However, the mosque only bears Khasan Murad Kashbegi's name. It is a small quadrangular mosque laid out as a living quarters. In the north the rectangular structure a narrow courtyard, summer avian and winter mosque. In the northeastern corner there is a minaret built inside a structure adjacent to the tarahat-khana. Restored in 1997.
    Rating: 386


13. Dzhuma Mosque (10th century, 1788) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    According to the Arab geographer Mukaddasiy, the Dzhuma Mosque dates back to the 10th century. The mosque as it is now was built on money donated by Khan Abdurakhman Mekhtar's officials in the later 18th century. Historian Munis attests much to the same fact. The mosque is a unique structure without portals, domes, galleries and courtyard. The mosque can be accessed from on three sides. In the northern side opening on Palvan Kari Street features a 33 meter tall minaret. Inside there is a large hall with the ceiling resting on 213 wood columns. There are small openings in the ceiling for lighting and ventilation. The southern wall features a stalactite-filled niche and to its right there is a marble plaque detailing the mosque's earnings and lands. Of special interest are variously dated hand-carved doors and columns, dated back to 1316, 1517 1788 and 1789.
    Rating: 374


14. Ata-Darvaza (1842-1975) - Ichan-Kala ^www
    The main gate of Ichan-Kala located in the western part of the city. Inside there were 43 stalls and a covered bazaar - Chorsu. Also inside there were tax collectors' rooms ("Badzhkhana"), money exchange rooms ("sar-rafkhana"). As being beyond repair the gate was demolished in 1920 and restored to their original look only in 1975. On the right is Muhammad Aminkhan's madrasah, on the left - Kunya Ark (Old fortress). Size: height -10m, width - 4m.
    Rating: 370


15. Yar Muhammad Devan (18th century) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    The Yar Muhammad Devan Mosque (Sayidata) of 18th century was built by Yar-Muhammad Devan. It stands right behind the Sayid Alavudin mausoleum with the Abdurasulbai Madrasah adjoining its eastern wall. The mosque's structural composition combines a domed hall and a high flat avian. On the layout the mosque is an offset rectangle with both sides of the avian edged westwards; probably because it was added later to the main cube-shapes structure the architects had to account for the small structure next to the north-west entrance which would have created certain problem.
    Rating: 370


16. Yaqubbai Khodja Madrasah (1873) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    The madrasah is located in the western part of Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum. It was erected by Yaqubbay Khodja, a prosperous Khiva merchant. The Madrasah is rectangular when viewed from above and elongated along the west-east longitudinal axis. The vestibule group is limited to a single pass-through domed room, which opens onto the yard with an arched doorway. There is a small domed mosque in the north-eastern corner of the Madrasah. As different from larger madrasahs, hujras adjoin the yard on the long side instead of the short one.
    Rating: 369


17. Muhamad Amin Inaq Madrasah (1785) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    It is located opposite the western corner of Tash Khauli. It was built by Muhammad Amin Inaq. His small son Qutli Murad (Bala Khan) who had been killed in the struggle for the throne was buried in the madrasah. The shape of the construction site affected the building architecture; rectangular if viewed from above, it has a frontal composition and is elongated in the transverse direction. Nevertheless, the general principle of placing living hujras around the yard and public halls at the entrance part was preserved. The well-proportioned portal is flanked by one-storied wings divided into two sections by dead niches with towers - guldasts - on the corners.
    Rating: 369


18. Bagbanli Mosque (1809) - (Ichan-Kala) ^+info
    The Bogbonli lies in the southeastern part of Ichan-Kala. According to an inscription on the avian wall, the mosque dates back to the year 1809 (1224 of Hijra), which also denotes the date and name of master Pakhlavan-kuli who designed the whole building written out in verse on a stone plaque east of the mosque entrance. The doors feature the name of another woodcarver - Ruz Muhammad, the son of Adin Muhammad, the man who decorated the carved door leading to the zariat-khana of Sheikh Mukhtar-Vali's mausoleum in the village of Astana in the Yangiaryk district. Legend has it that the mosque was built on money donated by two horticulturist brothers. The mosque has a rectangular shape and consists of a darvaz-khana lined by a pair of taharat-khanami, a twin-column avian and a domed winter quarters. The aivan's carved wood columns are of great artistic value and whose ornamentation brings to mind the 14th century columns seen at the Dzhuma Mosque.
    Rating: 368


19. Muhammad Rakhimkhan II Madrasah (1871) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    It is located to the east of Kunya Ark Citadel. The Khans full name was Sayyid Muhammad Rahim Bakhadur Khan (people called him Madrimkhan II). He wrote poems under the pseudonym Feruz and ordered the madrasah construction which was completed in 1876. Muhammad Rahimkhan Madrasah is one of the biggest in Khiva and the most famous one in the Middle Asia. Construction of a large madrasah with 76 hujras was a logical continuation of Muhammad Rahimkhan's educational activities. The Madrasah consists of two yards with one-storey hujra cells in the inner yard. Further in the yard is a two-storey building with a high portal of the Madrasah main facade. Inside is the main yard with a row of arched hujras. The vestibule consists of eight domed sections in a bent passage, the largest number among madrasahs in the Middle Asia. The Madrasah consists of darskhana, library, winter and summer mosques. Majolica is generously used in tympanums, ornamental stripes and three quarter columns on the facade. The brickwork used is paired terracotta bricks with green stripes.
    Rating: 362


20. Hajash Marama Madrasah (1839) - (Ichan-Kala) ^www
    Hajash Marama Madrasah or Hojash Makhram, located at the western side Dzhuma mosque, was co stricter by Hojash Makhram, one of Allah Kuli Khan's advisors. It is comparatively small one storey asymmetrically designed building with protruding darskhana room at the northeaster corner. The madrasah consists of a yard surrounded by 12 hudjras, darskhana, winter and summer mosques. It does not follow the canonic design for this type of buildings.
    Rating: 357