Kalta-Minor and Islam Khoja: the two minarets of Khiva

They belong to two different Khivas. The Kalta-Minor was begun in 1852 by Muhammad Amin Khan, a ruler who wanted the biggest minaret in the region. The Islam Khoja minaret was finished in 1910 for a vizier who spent his own money on a hospital, a post office and schools. One was meant to astonish; the other became the town’s lookout.

Between them they frame Ichan-Kala. The Kalta-Minor stands at the western entrance, by the gate where most visitors come in; the Islam Khoja rises in the south-east quarter, next to the Pahlavan Mahmud mausoleum.

Kalta-Minor means “short minaret”. Muhammad Amin Khan, who ruled Khiva from 1846 to 1855, began it in 1852 in front of his new madrasah, the largest in Khiva. With a base of 14.2 metres, it was planned to reach 70 to 80 metres, and some accounts say 110. Either way it would have topped the 73-metre Qutb Minar in Delhi. That is why the drum is so wide and tapers so fast: what you see is the bottom third of a much taller tower.

It is not a freestanding tower. A small wooden bridge links it to the madrasah, and the wooden staircase inside starts from the madrasah’s second floor. The madrasah, about 130 rooms around a courtyard 38 metres square, now houses a hotel, so some travellers sleep a few steps from the minaret.

What sets the Kalta-Minor apart is its skin: it is the only minaret covered entirely in glazed tiles, in bands of turquoise, green and white. Stand close and each band turns out to be a different geometric pattern, stacked like rings. The inscriptions carry verses by Muhammad Riza Ogahi, the Khivan poet and historian; 12 of his 16 verses can still be read on the minaret. One compares it to Tuba, the tree of paradise, and to a pillar holding up the sky.

Some of the lettering was broken off in Soviet times. For Khiva’s 2,500th anniversary in 1996–1997 the minaret was restored, and the lost inscriptions were put back from Ogahi’s own manuscript.

Islam Khoja was the first vizier of Khiva under Muhammad Rahim Khan II and then under his son Isfandiyar Khan, whose father-in-law he was. He is remembered as a moderniser. From his own funds he paid for a hospital, a pharmacy, a post and telegraph office, secular schools, a cotton gin and new iron bridges.

In 1908–1910 he built the last large ensemble of Ichan-Kala: a madrasah, a mosque and a minaret. The architect was Khudoybergan Haji, and the decoration was the work of the masters Eshmuhammad Khudoyberdiev and Bolta Voisov.

The minaret is 56.6 metres tall, 57 with its foundation: the tallest in Khiva and taller than the Kalyan minaret in Bukhara. From a base 9.5 metres across it narrows steadily to a lantern with windows, a stalactite cornice and ceramic lattices. Bands of dark blue, white, blue and green glazed tiles ring the brick at intervals, a deliberate echo of the minarets of the 11th and 12th centuries.

The Kalta-Minor is admired from the ground; the Islam Khoja is the minaret visitors climb. A spiral staircase of fired brick, 175 steps, winds up inside the tower to the lantern, where windows open at about 45 metres: the highest viewpoint in Khiva.

From there you see the plan of Ichan-Kala at once: the tiled dome of Pahlavan Mahmud directly below, the flat clay roofs and small domes of the houses, the crenellated line of the walls and, across town, the turquoise drum of the Kalta-Minor.

• The staircase is narrow, steep and dark, with worn steps. Use your phone torch, leave big bags below and take your time on the way down.
• It is not for anyone with bad knees or a fear of tight spaces. The Ak Sheikh Bobo watchtower of the Kunya-Ark gives a similar view over the old town.
• Whether the minaret is open that day, until what time and whether the climb is included in the combined ticket are decided at the ticket office. We never promise the climb in advance.
• Go up in the morning or in the late afternoon, when the low sun picks out the domes.

• The square inside the West Gate. The classic Kalta-Minor picture: the whole drum with the madrasah beside it. Come at sunrise for an empty square or in the last hour of light, when the tiles glow.
• At its foot. Lean back and shoot straight up: the bands of pattern close in towards the sky. It is also the best way to see the inscriptions.
• The street along the wall. The lane between the clay wall and the madrasah puts the Kalta-Minor at the end of a long row of arches.
• The Ak Sheikh Bobo watchtower. From the top of the Kunya-Ark both minarets fit into one frame, with the roofs of the old town between them.
• Rooftop café terraces. Several cafés inside the walls have terraces at roof level with a minaret over the parapet.
• Islam Khoja with Pahlavan Mahmud. The banded minaret beside the tiled dome of the mausoleum is the second classic picture of Khiva, at its best in the evening.

At sunset we split the hour: the Kalta-Minor while the light is golden, then up to the watchtower or a roof terrace as the sun goes down behind the walls. Ask before you photograph people. Coming mainly for the pictures? See our photo tour of Uzbekistan.

Both minarets lie on the usual walk through Ichan-Kala. Our route: in through the West Gate to the Kalta-Minor and the Kunya-Ark; along the main street past the Juma Mosque; then south to Pahlavan Mahmud and the Islam Khoja madrasah for the museum and the climb; and back to the Kalta-Minor at the end of the day for the evening light.

• Getting there: the fast Jaloliddin Manguberdi train leaves Tashkent at 07:00 and reaches Khiva at 14:31, every day except Sunday; the station is a half-hour walk from the walls. See trains in Uzbekistan.
• Tickets: the Kalta-Minor is free to see from the street. The museum and the minaret belong to the Ichan-Kala museum-reserve: buy the combined ticket at the office by the West Gate and ask there what it includes. Cards for each monument are in Bukhara and Khiva sights.
• Hours: the lanes never close; the museum and the minaret keep daytime hours set by the ticket office.
• How long: 15 minutes at the Kalta-Minor, longer if you come back for the evening light; about an hour for the Islam Khoja museum and climb.
• Dress: no strict dress code at either minaret, but next door at Pahlavan Mahmud cover shoulders and knees. Wear shoes with a good grip for the staircase.
• Afterwards: take a taxi to Arda Khiva on Lake Govuk. It has its own copy of the Kalta-Minor, so you can compare it with the original you saw at sunset.

With one of our guides, this walk is the Khiva walking tour. All our routes through the city are under Khiva tours, and more about the city is on the Khiva page.