Itchan Kala Old City Guided Walking Tour Khiva

Itchan Kala, the walled old town of Khiva

Itchan Kala is the inner town of the old Khiva oasis, enclosed by thick mud-brick walls roughly ten metres high and more than two kilometres long, with four gates facing the four directions. In 1990 it became the first site in Uzbekistan on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Inside are dozens of madrasahs, mosques, mausoleums and palaces, mostly built in the 18th and 19th centuries, when Khiva was the capital of a khanate on the Silk Road.

On this Itchan Kala tour the last forty minutes are spent walking its lanes with your guide, past the turquoise stump of the unfinished Kalta Minor minaret, the citadel walls and the clay houses where families still live. Is Itchan Kala worth visiting? Few places in Central Asia keep a complete walled town so intact. The best time to visit Khiva is spring or autumn; summer afternoons are very hot.

Allakuli Khan Madrasah

The tour begins at the Allakuli Khan Madrasah, built in the 1830s under Allakuli Khan near the eastern gate of the old town. It was one of the largest theological colleges in Khiva, and its tall entrance portal is faced with blue, white and turquoise majolica tiles in dense geometric and floral patterns. Behind the portal, two storeys of small student cells surround a quiet courtyard, a layout repeated in madrasahs across Central Asia.

Your guide explains how students lived and studied here, how the khans paid for these colleges, and how the madrasah fits into the busy trading quarter around it, with the covered market and caravanserai next door. About twenty minutes are spent here, with time for photos of the portal. It is a good first stop because it shows the tilework style you will keep meeting all afternoon.

Islam Khoja Minaret

Rising about 57 metres, the Islam Khoja Minaret is the tallest structure in Khiva and its most recognisable landmark. It was completed in 1910, together with a small madrasah, by order of Islam Khoja, the reforming grand vizier of the khanate. The tower tapers elegantly towards the top and is wrapped in alternating bands of turquoise and white glazed brick, so it changes colour with the light during the day.

You spend about thirty minutes around the minaret and the madrasah at its foot, where the guide talks about the last years of the khanate and the modernising projects of the early 20th century. From almost every lane in Itchan Kala you can see this minaret, which makes it a useful landmark when you walk on your own later. The climb to the top is not part of the guided route and is paid separately when open.

Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum

The Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum honours Pahlavon Mahmud, a 14th-century poet, furrier and wrestler who became the patron saint of Khiva. The present complex was rebuilt in the early 19th century, and its green-blue glazed dome is the largest in the town. Inside, the walls of the tomb chamber are covered in some of the finest majolica tiles in Khiva, and several khans chose to be buried close to the saint.

It is still a place of pilgrimage, so your guide explains the customs and asks visitors to dress modestly, keep their voices low and avoid flash photography. About twenty minutes are spent in the courtyard and the tomb chamber. Many visitors call it the most beautiful interior of the whole walk, and the shaded courtyard is a pleasant pause in the middle of the afternoon.

Juma Mosque of Khiva

The Juma Mosque is unlike any other mosque in the old town: instead of a tiled portal and dome, it is a vast, low hall with a flat roof held up by more than two hundred carved wooden columns. The present building dates from the late 18th century, but a few of its columns are far older and are said to go back to the 10th century, taken from earlier mosques on the same site.

Two openings in the roof let soft light fall between the columns, and your guide points out how the carving styles change from one column to the next. You spend about twenty minutes here, and the adjoining minaret gives a good photo from the street outside. Visitors often ask about Juma Mosque opening hours: it opens daily from morning to early evening, and the tour times are planned within them.