Walk the walled town of Khiva

What the experience is

Khiva lies in the oasis of Khorezm, in the far west of Uzbekistan, between two deserts. Its inner town, Itchan Kala, is enclosed by crenellated walls of mud brick, eight to ten metres high, with a gate on each side. Within them are more than 50 historic monuments and about 250 old houses, most from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Khiva was the capital of a khanate. In 1990 it became the first place in Uzbekistan to be listed by UNESCO.

There is little traffic inside the walls. The visit is a walk.

A route

Enter by the west gate, Ota Darvoza. Immediately ahead is the Kalta Minor, a broad minaret banded in turquoise tile, begun by Muhammad Amin Khan and left unfinished, so that it stands as a short, thick tower. To the left is the Kunya Ark, the old citadel and residence of the khans, whose watchtower gives a view over the whole town.

Walk east along the main street to the Juma Mosque, founded in the tenth century and rebuilt in the late eighteenth. It has no courtyard or dome. Its roof rests on a forest of carved wooden columns, some of them far older than the building. South of it is the mausoleum of Pahlavan Mahmud, a poet and wrestler honoured as the patron saint of the city, under a turquoise dome. Further east, the Tash Khauli palace of the nineteenth century has a courtyard faced in blue and white tile, with painted ceilings. The walk ends at the east gate, Palvan Darvoza, which opens on the bazaar.

When to go

April to early June and September to October. The best hours are the first and last of the day, when the mud walls turn gold and the day-trip groups have not arrived or have gone. Parts of the ramparts can be walked at sunset where they are open.

Good to know

A ticket, sold at the gates, covers most monuments; a few charge separately. Stay inside or beside the walls for at least one night, because the town empties in the evening. Khiva is reached by air to Urgench, about half an hour away, or by rail; a high-speed service reached Khiva in 2026, but timetables should be checked.

Why OKYTO recommends it

Samarkand has grander buildings and Bukhara a livelier old town, but Khiva is the most complete. It is the natural end of a journey by rail across the country, after the Registan at Samarkand.