Kunya-Ark

Kunya-Ark, which in translation means the old fortress, is the citadel of the khans of Khiva in the north-western corner of Ichan-Kala. It was founded in the seventeenth century under Arang Khan, and its present appearance with mud-brick walls and the Ak-Sheikh-Bobo bastion took shape by the beginning of the nineteenth century. Within this fortress-town were the reception chambers, the summer and winter mosques, the mint, the arsenal and the harem of the ruler. The strongest impression is left by the throne hall with its iwan, where the walls are covered throughout with blue and green tiles in a floral pattern and the inlaid wooden ceiling is painted by hand. The real silver throne of the Khiva khans was taken to St Petersburg back at the end of the nineteenth century, and today a copy of it stands under the carved niche.

On the map