Historic Sights of Tashkent

Juma (Friday) Mosque
In the medieval Muslim world, the significance of the city at times was determined by the presence of the main - Friday Mosque in it. Architectural and artistic perfection of the appearance of the building has always been a subject of special concern of the city-rulers. Every city is trying to outdo the others with its monumental mosque. Among the famous mosques in Central Asia Djuma mosque in Khiva differs from others with its traditionalism, even archaism of its planning and spatial structure. It preserved the cathedral mosques' features of thousand years' prescription. This is a multi-column, covered with flat roof, a huge rectangular hall (45x55 m), surrounded by a massive blank wall with three entrance doors. In the middle of the south wall there is a mihrab niche - a place to indicate the direction of the worship of the congregation. Semi-darkness reigned in the hall, because a few hatches - slots on the roof are not sufficient to illumine a large space. Main artistic value of the mosque, of course, are carved wooden columns (over 200), varying in size and by its architectural form of artistic decoration and time of manufacture. According to widespread opinion, the heterogeneity of the columns resulted from the use of materials from demolished buildings.
Kalta-Minor
A short, yet enormous, minaret stands before the facade of the Muhammad Amin-khan Madrassah. This is Kalta-Minor - the "Short minaret". The minaret and Muhammad Amin-khan Madrassah were intended to finish the plan of the big square near the western gates of Ichan-Qala. Kalta-Minor should have become the biggest and highest minaret in Central Asia. Its massive base is 14.2 m in diameter. However, construction was interrupted upon the death of Muhammad-Amin-khan in 1855 after a battle with the Turkmen as historian Munis reported. Legend has preserved a better version. A Bukhara Khan found out about the construction of a grandiose minaret in Khiva and agreed with its architect on the construction of a taller minaret in Bukhara. The Khiva Khan became angry and ordered the architect to be thrown from the minaret, which stopped construction. In any case, the structure rose to only 26m. Decoratively speaking, the bright blue minaret of Kalta-Minor has no equal in Central Asia. It is the only minaret whose surface is entirely covered with colored glazed tiles.