Города и дороги"Four minarets" is a whimsical structure raised by the Turkmen merchant Khalif Niyazkul in 1805-1806. It is not a building in its own right but the gatehouse of a madrasa that has not survived: a two-storey domed block with four corner towers, behind which there once stood a courtyard, cells and a large garden. The cells and the courtyard were dismantled, and the gate was left standing in the middle of an ordinary residential quarter, so the scale of the structure is not obvious at first. The towers are crowned with small blue tiled domes, and the decoration of none of them repeats the others: many readings have been invented for this, from the four points of the compass to four religions; a staircase to the roof is hidden inside one of the towers. The south-eastern tower collapsed in 1995 and was restored with UNESCO support two years later. A hauz has survived nearby, possibly of the same period, along with part of the old garden. Together with the whole historic centre of Bukhara the monument has been on the World Heritage list since 1993. A small but incredibly photogenic sight in a quiet quarter away from the tourist routes; inside there is now a small mosque and a shop selling handicrafts.
- Address
- Juybori Quarter, Khoja Nurobodiy Street, Bukhara
- Opening hours
- 9:00-19:00
- Prices
- Free admission
On the map
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