Juma Mosque

Khiva, a city that is almost entirely an architectural monument erected in the XVIII – XIX centuries. The biggest attraction of the city is shahristan (from the ancient name of the cities that were located inside the fortress walls), which has been preserved almost untouched in the city walls of Ichan Kala (inner city). The entrance to Shahristan was carried out through the gates of Ichan Kala.

The real pearl of Ichan Kala is the Juma Mosque (Friday Mosque), a unique architectural monument that is completely different from the mosques of Central Asia.

According to the research of geographers and historians, the Juma Mosque was built in the X century, and then, later, it was rebuilt with funds donated by Khan Abdurakhman Mehtar.

The square-shaped mosque has no domes, no portals, no galleries, no courtyard. The Juma mosque is a covered room, the canopy of which is supported on columns, fenced with a massive wall, and access inside is carried out from three sides, on the fourth side there is a mihrab in the wall (a prayer niche indicating the direction towards the Kaaba for believers).

The archaic multi-column mosque stands on a foundation laid of brick on clay mortar. Getting inside the mosque, the visitor finds himself, as it were, in a forest of columns, and this sight is breathtaking. The roof of the mosque is supported by 213 columns, which are of particular value to the mosque, mesmerizing visitors with their centuries-old patterns. Columns from 4 to 5 meters in height were made at different times, at intervals of centuries. The oldest of the columns were taken from the capital of medieval Khiva – the city of Kyat. 4 more columns are decorated with inscriptions made in the style of “naskhi", in the same style with the columns of the Bagbanli mosque. Another 21 columns of the mosque were made in the X-XII centuries, and decorated with Arabic inscriptions in the Kufic style. Most of the columns date back to the XVIII-XIX centuries and differ from the rest by floral patterns made on them in the Khiva style.

There are openings in the ceiling for light and ventilation. The southern wall of the mosque is decorated with mukarnas (stalactites). The central entrance to the mosque is decorated with a wooden door decorated with elaborate carvings and according to experts, the age of this door is more than 7 centuries.

In front of the mosque is the Kazi Kalyan Madrasah, which for a long time was a comprehensive school and a theological seminary.

The unique object of the architectural and cultural heritage of Khiva, the Juma Mosque, will not leave any visitor indifferent.