The Bolo Hauz

As in all central cities of Central Asia, Bukhara had its own central square, which was called Registan. The word Registan translates as “covered with sand”, which was characteristic of the squares where public executions were held, after which, in order to hide the blood, they were covered with sand. Also, Registan has traditionally been the central square of the city, where its most important architectural structures were concentrated. Thus, the Registan of the Bukhara Middle Ages, located opposite the Ark citadel, included a palace, an office, a chamber of commerce, a hospital and an ensemble consisting of a mosque and a reservoir – a hauz. Of all these buildings, only the ensemble consisting of a mosque and a reservoir called Bolo Hauz has survived to this day. 

Like many buildings of the Middle Ages, the mosque is shrouded in legends that tell about its creation. According to one of them, the Bolo Hauz complex was created on the initiative and at the expense of the mother of the eighth ruler of the Ashtarkhanid dynasty - Abulfeiz Khan. 

According to another legend, the complex was erected by order of Emir Shahmurad, who sought to show the people that he was one of them, and together with all the believers performed Friday prayer in the mosque he built.

In 1712, a water reservoir – hauz was built near the mosque, which for a long time served as a source of drinking water for the population of the city. For many centuries, until the Revolution, the Bolo Hauz complex was the main Friday mosque of Bukhara, where Bukhara Emirs prayed. In 1917, during a large-scale reconstruction of the architectural ensemble, the architect, Shirin Muradov, built a minaret near the mosque. 

To date, the Bolo Hauz complex includes a summer and winter mosque, a minaret and a water reservoir.

The Winter Mosque is represented by a four-column hall, to which aivans on wooden columns, which are the summer mosque, are adjacent from three sides from the outside. The ceiling of the summer mosque is supported by 20 wooden columns decorated with carvings, topped with stalactites (mukarnas) and mounted on a concrete foundation. The ceiling of the aivans, which is divided by columns, is decorated with star-shaped stalactites. The mosque is popularly called the Mosque of the forty columns due to the fact that 20 columns are reflected in the waters of the hauz and together with the reflection form a total of 40 columns.

The minaret of the mosque eventually leaned slightly to the side and reminded visitors of the famous Italian Leaning Tower of Pisa, however, during the recent restoration it was significantly strengthened and re-installed vertically. 

Today, the mosque performs its direct function, daily gathering believers for prayer, and is one of the main attractions of Bukhara.