Excursions on minarets Ichan-Kala in Khiva.

"Where the palace stood in the distant years
And she spent the days of the sultans of the series.
There now the turtle-dove sits among the ruins
And crying plaintively: "Where, where, where?"

Omar Khayyam.

Side trip from Kunya-Urgench to Khiva. 

At the time of Allakuli-Khan, the rich merchant  Seyid Niyaz Shelykarbay a complex of religious structures outside Ickhan-Qala,beside the gates of Palvan-darvaza. This consists of a nine-dome mosque, two-storied madrassah and a minaret.
An open aivan with three carved wooden columns was built from the end of the XVIIIth - beginning of the XIXth centuries. The minaret towering to the top in the form of a vertical a cone gives us an idea about the basic techniques of town-planning art of Khiva. It is located to the left of the main entrance to the mosque and is very peculiar and midget, rich in Khivan patterns.
At the top of the minaret, under the pattern of "sharaf» of the cornice, the arched niche is embedded. A spiral staircase inside the minaret leads to the top of it which is seen from all points of the city.
The height of the minaret is 24 meters, the diameter in its foundation is 4.5 meters. It adjoins the main building of the mosque on the northern side. Hanging eaves and arched lanterns crown the minaret, located in the eastern part of the mosque's courtyard. 

Authority:
http://visitkhorezm.uz