Uzbekistan part 2 - Khiva part 1

[graculus]

Next stop on my trip was Khiva, where most of our time was spent in the Itchan Kala, which is the walled inner city area - the current walls round the city are mudbrick, were built in the 17th century and at points reach a height of 10m (32 feet).

In Uzbekistan all historic sites belong to the state, but that doesn't stop people from using the slightest opportunity to sell stuff to tourists in the most unlikely of places - unless we're talking working mosques and madrassahs, the makeshift stalls are there and you'll see them in a number of the pictures to follow.


The view from the front doorstep of our hotel:



The statue of al-Khwarizmi:



If you're wondering who this thoughtful-looking guy is, he's credited as being the 12th century inventor of algebra and the term 'algorithm' is derived from his name. It's not clear if he was actually from Khiva, as Khorezm (the province) is bigger than just the city, but they're damn well claiming him!

The ubiquitous mudbrick, including a small bit of wall - more of that later!



The iconic tower - originally intended as a minaret proper, work on it just stopped, allegedly because the emir realised that if it was completed to the height intended, the muezzin would be able to see straight into the emir's harem.



Another angle on the tower:



A closer shot of the tilework:



The interior of one of the emir's halls - the area with all the tilework would be where the emir sat, if he was in residence, as it faces north and is therefore the coolest part of the building:



The ubiquitous tilework overload:



Part of the city walls:





More from Khiva tomorrow! :)

Comments

[khek.livejournal.com]

Were the two women in the identical black flowered dresses in uniform, or do people just like to dress alike there? :)

I still love the tile work, but in that "overload" picture, maybe there is a little bit of too much of a good thing...

So did you pull out your wad of cash and purchase anything from any of the stalls? It looks like there might be some nice shawls or something near that vest hanging on the wall!

[leethet.livejournal.com]

Were the two women in the identical black flowered dresses in uniform, or do people just like to dress alike there?

I'm going to take a stab (not that you were asking me - or really asking ;-)) at "they had a lot of that particular cloth in the house." Maybe it was on sale? I've seen this in a lot of families that make their own clothes for whatever reason (economy, generally) - mom has the dress, daughter a skirt, son a shirt, of the same fabric. :-)

[graculus.livejournal.com]

I think leethet has probably already hit the nail on the head - homemade clothes from the same material, particularly since those two are children (I know, it's hard to tell from the pic).

And I was very self-controlled - didn't see anything in Khiva I really liked, although I'd already bought a nice embroidered tablecloth in Tashkent and would go on to buy obelix's birthday present and a lovely embroidered wall-hanging with hoopoes on it in Bokhara.

[khek.livejournal.com]

That's kind of what I thought...my mother used to dress me and my sisters alike. I just thought that they were adults, and I would hate that!

[leethet.livejournal.com]

Beautiful. And I don't care if the story about the tower is true, it should be true.

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Wow, that tower is amazing, as is the emir's hall (it's good to be the emir, I guess *g*). I especially love that gorgeous light blue color.

[siluria]

That tile work is really impressive!!

Thank you for the tour! :)