Today we visited the massive and ancient fort that is literally across the street from our hotel. This spectacular fortress is the oldest structure in Bukhara, dating all the way back to the 5th century. It has been inhabited by various peoples up until the invasion of the Red Army in 1920 when severe damage was caused. Prior to the invasion, the Ark was inhabited by over 3000 people, to include the Bukharan emirs, but also housed appointed officials, poets, and scholars. With royal palaces, government offices, stables, and libraries, the Ark of Bukhara truly functioned as a city within a city.
Our Rolls Royce taxi took us on a brief ride through some narrow residential lanes of old Bukhara.
We spent some time learning about the magnificent and old Kalon minaret (11th century) which is the oldest in Uzbekistan. It was also damaged by bombs during the Russian invasion in 1920.
Poi kalon is a complex of buildings including a mosque and madrasa in the historic center of Bukhara. Its original name means “at the foot of the Great One” in Farsi. This name refers to the 46-meter high minaret that dominates the skyline of the ancient city and predates the other structures in the complex by several centuries.
The complex is arranged around a large open square. The Mir-i Arab Madrasa forms one side, and this facade faces that of the Kalon Mosque. A domed library forms the third side of the square.
Qarakhanid ruler Arslan Khan (1102-1129) initiated building activity on this site, commissioning several structures including a wooden mosque with a wooden minaret, of which little is known. The wooden minaret fell some time after its erection. The existing brick minaret was built as a replacement in 1127. It is said that the mosque was burned to the ground during the Mongol invasion in 1220, and that Genghis Khan ordered it be destroyed thinking it was a royal palace. The current mosque was constructed in phases over the first half of the fifteenth century and during the sixteenth century. The madrasa was built in 1535-6. The mosque is used to this day and can hold up to 10,000 worshippers making it the largest mosque in Uzbekistan.
We had our third meal on our third day at Joy restaurant! We like it!! Very much!! Today the entire group went for lunch, whereas previously a few of us went for dinner.
In the bazaar
Some artwork by young (7-12 year olds) attending a charitable art school.
Bolo Hauz means ‘children’s pond’. Water has always been short in Central Asia, so they used to build ponds serving as a drinking water source for the population. Water carriers would take water from the ponds and delivered it in special leather containers to residential quarters and bazaars where they sold it. Bolo Hauz was one of these ponds. It had been there until the Soviet authorities decided to dry it in the early 20th century so as to prevent epidemics: the stagnant water in the pond was also a source of infection, but the locals still habitually used it.
The elegant looking mosque features 20 fossilized black elm pillars covered with carvings. The local people also call the structure ‘the forty-pillar mosque’. It is not a counting mistake! The 20 pillars are reflected in the pond, making 40 of them.
The mosque is over three centuries old but it still functions as a daily mosque for worshippers.
To cap off the day we visited a home and had a plov making demonstration which we then ate!
