Itchan Kala

Itchan Kala was perhaps the site in uzbekistan that surprised me the most. I honestly didn't expect to like it as much as I did. This was because of two reasons:

1. Itchan Kala is a small enclosed city almost devoid of people. A sort of open museum nowadays for all intents and purposes.

2. Itchan Kala is strikingly modern and homogenous. most of its buildings were built between the 18th and 20th century. and I have a strong preference towards old and heterogeneous cities. 

So it wasn't looking good... 

The visiting method was also rather strange and a bit frustrating. There's a ticket you need to buy to enter most sites inside the city. It includes kunya arq, toshvoli palace and a near infinite array of frankly terrible museums. I seriously recommend passing on most of them. 

The actual highlights of the city are the two palaces (kunya arq and toshvoli) and the pahlavi mausoleum. The Friday mosque is interesting though the comparisons to the great mosque of corduba are rather exaggerated. 

Now onto why I liked the place. 

Khiva represent imo the epitome of decoration in Uzbek architecture. The Pahlavan mausoleum and the royal halls are covered head to toe in bright blue and white faience, giving the walls an almost kaleidoscopic effect. A far cry from the much more restrained walls of the gur e amir.

Khiva also brings to the table the very best sculpted pillars in uzbekistan …

Of all the sites in Uzbekistan I liked Itchan Kala in Xiva (Khiva) best. Samarkand is obviously the biggest and objectively best site in Uzbekistan, but it's fairly spread out. It's also modern Uzbekistan's second largest city with traffic and crowds. It didn't evoke much of an old town feeling in me and I would not have wanted to stay for longer.

Bukhara meanwhile has an old town flair and features the nicest Islamic buildings in Uzbekistan. But ... It's overpriced and overcrowded by (mostly French) tour groups.

Xiva/Khiva was noticeably calmer than the other two. I assume this is due to Xiva/Khiva being a way smaller than the other two cities. And several tourists not making the effort of getting there as it's really far off. While Bukhara has a bullet train connection, getting to Khiva requires either a flight or a 15h train ride.

Within the walls Xiva/Khiva has a compact and mostly consistent old town, free of cars and traffic. Els' description of an empty museum city does not really cover it. Streets are filled with street vendors and loads of tourists (but way less than in Bukhara). But she is spot on to this day about the tour groups' nationality: French.

To visit, you have to buy a ticket that covers all but two sites in the city wall. There are several great ones, the highlight to me being the wooden columns and roof of the Juma Mosque. And everywhere there are …

I visited this WHS in June 2017 and spent 4 days here (1 of them I spent to visit the tentative site Desert Castles of Khorezm).

Again, this is a top WHS even though it is more of a museum-city nowadays. 3000 people are still believed to be living inside the Itchan Kala itself and in fact they have special permits 'to drive home' and park their vehicles inside the city walls! All the sites of the Itchan Kala (inner fortified city) can be visited by buying a cumulative ticket + camera fee from the gate closest to the Unfinished Minaret. It will give you access to 16 different sites but I agree that a local guide for 1 day would be essential to give you more information and context to what you will be visiting - otherwise, it will seem like a nonsensical list of sites most of which now house different kinds of museums. The most interesting was indeed the Khorezm Museum and the Local Photography Museum to see photos of the several buildings and desert castles of Khorezm before the earthquakes and videos of how life was like up to less than 100 years ago!

The only other sites where you'll have to pay again are to climb the 32 metre high Djuma Minaret, the 45 metre high Islam Khadja Minaret, the Kunya Ark viewing platform (photo) and the Pahlavan Mahmoud Complex interior with the Khiva Khans necropolis (worth viewing!).

The best interiors with incredible architecture, art, …

At first sight, the Itchan Khala of Khiva is a deception: an almost empty open-air museum, except for numerous French tour groups with loud guides. Where have I landed? Is this the once so remote oasis town? The monumental walls, gates, and other historic buildings in town look over-restored as well.

Fortunately, I stayed here for two nights, and it certainly grew on me. My hotel (the Arkonchi) is located within the walled section, making it easy to wander around during all hours of the day. Although only early May, the temperatures easily reached 35 degrees Celsius during the day. So the best exploring was in the early mornings and evenings. The rest of the day I spent hanging around in one of Uzbekistan's best features: the chaikhanas (tea houses).

Almost every building in town is some sort of museum or shop (or combination of these two). I just entered them all - sometimes I was disappointed because of the overly commercial atmosphere, but I was pleasantly surprised too a number of times. Highlights certainly not to be missed are the Pahlavan Mahmud Mausoleum (tiled all over and very serene), the Djuma mosque with its 112 wooden columns and the Tosh Kovli Palace.

The WHS of “Khiva” is more properly titled the “Itchan Kala” (or Ichon Qala or Ichan-kala) which refers specifically to the old walled town of the Khiva Oasis. The town is very heavily restored and operates virtually as an open air museum in its own right. Indeed the main gate holds a ticket office where entrance fees and camera charges are paid. Locals do live inside and it is possible to “enter” from other gates – but you will not get into the museums without a ticket.

Many of the buildings inside the walls are museums and, when one has added the tourist shops, the carpet factories and the hotels (The Hotel Khiva is an old meddressa and worth a visit even if you are not staying), there is not a great deal else. There is an obligatory “genuine” Bactrian camel for being photographed with and there are sellers of furry Uzbek hats for being photographed with! Yet Khiva in my opinion transcends all this and is “worth the journey” for the chance to experience, an albeit restored, Central Asian walled city. We particularly liked wandering around in the quiet of the evening and sunset is very fine when taken from a high place such as the Islom Huja minaret.

Your ticket entitles you to a bewildering array of entrances but not amazingly to 1 major highlight, the viewing platform in/above the Ark, which should NOT be missed (at relatively small extra cost)as it gives the best view over the …