Khiva - Kaptarkhon minaret

The Kaptarkhon minaret was built in the 19th century and is located on the site of the neighbourhood mosque of the same name in Khiva. In the upper part there are four openings from which the Muazzin read “Azan”.

The minaret is built of baked bricks and decorated with patterned brickwork, only the cornice has a band of blue tiles.

The Kaptarkhon minaret in Khiva is 8 metres high and 2 metres in diameter.

The minarets were originally built as lookout towers and landmarks for travellers. After the arrival of Islam in Central Asia, the minarets were used for the calls to prayer. Minarets then appeared on every town around the Jome mosques. The number of large and small minarets in Khiva was originally about a hundred, nowadays their number does not exceed 20.

Every time the elders told about the minarets, the question arose how big the foundations of the monuments are, whether it is possible that some of them have a conical shape? Perhaps the most surprising thing about the stories is that the foundations of the minaret extend over a large distance and are many times larger than the cross-section of the hull of the minaret itself.

Researchers from the Mamun Academy of Khorezm (Uzbekistan), led by Dr Durdiyeva, conducted a comprehensive (structural) study of the technical condition of the structures of the minaret of Saidniyaz Shalikarbay. The complex (minaret, mosque and small madrassa) Saidniyaz Shalikarbay is an example of late feudal architecture of Khorezm and is located outside the fortress wall at the eastern gate of Ichan-Kala. This complex was built in 1834-1835 at the funds of merchant Saidniyaz Shalikarbay. The construction was directed by Usto Muhammad-Rahim.

After the successful attempt to uncover the foundation of the minaret, Saidniyaz Shalikarbay carried out measurement work. It is surprising that the basement was of small size, consisting of 4 well-masoned square brick steps on mud mortar, built on a platform of fragments of the same brick. Its size is h=1.24 metres in height, and the indentation from the minaret level to the edge of the foundation is about =1.20 metres. Therefore, we are convinced that the builders anticipated the characteristic changes that contributed to the deformation that occurred at the base of the monument, as it can negatively affect both the construction of the foundation and the minaret as a whole.