The Sitorai Mokhi Hosa Palace

Bukhara is a museum city located at the crossroads of history, where almost every street carries a piece of cultural heritage. The eternal city, where legends and the past are closely intertwined in stories. The Sitorai Mokhi Hosa Palace is located here – the pearl of the Bukhara emirs, and at the same time the cultural heritage of the whole of Central Asia, the construction of which is still covered with secrets and legends. 

One of the late architectural monuments is Sitorai Mokhi Hosa, erected during the reign of the last, Mangyt dynasty of Bukhara emirs, and from the XIX to the XX century the palace was the summer park residence of Bukhara emirs. 

Many legends are associated with the construction of the palace, but it is still not known for certain what is fiction, and what actually happened.

One of the legends says that the Emir of Bukhara Muzaffar Khan had a beloved wife Sitorabonu, who was famous for her extraordinary beauty and gentleness of disposition. But the khan's beloved wife died at the first birth, giving her husband a son. Distraught with grief, the khan ordered to build a palace in the name of his untimely dead wife and named it Sitorai Mokhi Hossa, which translates as: “The star of the Shah's soul.”

Another legend is based on the verses of Rudaki and the reign of Shah Ismail Samaniy, who ruled in the IX century. According to legend, the shah, after taking Merv, while dining at a magnificent festive table, heard the kasida (verse-song) of Rudaki, which was called “Zhui Mulien Oyadu Hame”, in the last lines of which the green gardens of Sitorai Mohi Hossa were mentioned. Hearing these, the shah, forgetting to put on his shoes, jumped on a horse and galloped towards Bukhara to the ever-green gardens. 

Another legend covers the period of the reign of Emir Nasrullokhan, who, in order to build a garden-residence where it will be cool in summer and warm in winter, convened the best architects of the country. Before the construction, the elder of the architects suggested starting with the definition of the wind rose by hanging sheep carcasses at the city gates. So, only at the northern gate of the city the carcass deteriorated a few days later than the others. The Mulien River flowed near the same gate. Here it was decided to build a palace, which, by order of the khan, should not be inferior in its beauty even to the gardens of Eden.

There have always been many gardens around Sitorai Mokhi Hossa, as every emir of Bukhara considered it his duty to cultivate gardens in the city. 

To date, the Sitorai Mohi Hossa ensemble has not preserved its original appearance. During its more than a century and a half history of the ensemble, the buildings erected during the reign of Nasrullo Khan, Muzaffar Khan, and Abdullaahad Khan have not been preserved. Today's appearance has been preserved since the reign of the last representative of the Mangyt dynasty, which was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Bukhara – Mir Sayyid Olim Khan. 

At the heart of the ensemble are two perpendicular paths that intersect to form four corners of the garden. The design of the facade and interior decoration of the ensemble is made in the best traditions of Central Asian architecture and applied art. The visitor enters the first (outer) courtyard by passing through the front gate, flanked by watchtowers. There are aivans and square-shaped stalls for horses called “Chorkunzh". Their decorative decoration is made in the ganch style. To get into the main part of the ensemble, you need to go through the covered gallery, next to which is the master of Ceremonies' room (eshik-agha). Behind the gallery is the reception room of Mir Sayyid Olim Khan, made in the form П, on the north side of which there are aivans. The decor is made with fine carvings and paintings on ganch and wood. The columns of the halls and aivans are decorated with carvings in the style of “girih”, which is made on a turquoise and gold background. On the western side of the ensemble there is a White House, a teahouse, an office, a hall for celebrations and a chess hall. On the territory of the ensemble, you can always meet peacocks, which are also associated with many legends, one of which says that peacocks, once the guards of the gates of Eden, were expelled from there to earth because they were deceived by Satan, who was able to enter the Garden of Eden. Peacocks, whose legs dried up after their exile, in search of Eden came to Sitorai Mokhi Hossa, which reminded them of the gardens of Paradise.

Today, visitors of the ensemble walking through the gardens can feel the atmosphere of peace and tranquility, which were the main priorities in the construction of the architectural ensemble.