The carved doors
Signed by a father and son.
Iaa2023 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · upyernoz from Haverford, USA — CC BY 2.0 · Davide Mauro — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Faqscl — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Panpanchik — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Ak Mosque (Oq masjid in Uzbek, the White Mosque) is a small neighbourhood mosque just inside Palvan Darvoza, the east gate of Itchan Kala, Khiva's walled inner town and a World Heritage Site since 1990. Its present building, a domed hall with iwans on three sides, 25.5 by 13.5 metres overall, dates from 1838–42. Its foundations date from 1657, laid with the Anusha Khan baths next door; tradition says the khan and historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur founded both to honour his son Anusha, who saved his life in a surprise Bukharan attack. Door inscriptions place the present building in the last years of Allah Kuli Khan's reign, when the grand buildings by the gate were nearly done and builders fitted this modest mosque onto the remaining plot. From afar the dome and the cube beneath it look pure white, hence the name. Inside, four tiers of muqarnas fill the corners under the dome of the hall, about 6.3 metres square. The hall was the winter mosque and the iwans, on plain wooden columns, the summer one. The finest work is on the three doors, carved with geometric and floral patterns and naming their makers, the Khivan woodcarvers Kalandar and his son Nur Muhammad. The baths' domes rise beside it and the Allakuli Khan Madrasa is about 50 metres away; Tosh Hovli Palace lies about 120 metres north and the Juma Mosque about 150 metres west, as the crow flies. The mosque is a short walk in from the gate; allow 15 to 30 minutes.
Signed by a father and son.
Pure white from afar.
Wooden columns on three sides.
By the east gate (Palvan Darvoza), Itchan Kala, Khiva
Allakuli Khan MadrasaA madrasa built by Allah Kuli Khan of Khiva in 1834-1835 on the east side of Itc1 minute walk4.5
Tosh Hovli PalaceA palace in Khiva's Itchan Kala whose name means «stone house», built between 182 minutes walk4.6
Juma Mosque, KhivaOne of Itchan Kala's principal monuments, in its middle on the road between the 2 minutes walk4.6
Islam Khoja MinaretKhiva's tallest minaret, about 57 metres including its base, built in 1908-1910 2 minutes walk4.7
Pahlavan Mahmud MausoleumThe tomb of Khiva's patron saint and its most sacred place for locals: Pahlavan 2 minutes walk4.6A bathhouse of 1657, about 27 by 15 metres, half sunk into the ground under a cluster of small domes. It belonged to the khan, had its own barber's shop, and in its day was closed to women, children, followers of other faiths and people with skin diseases.
A neighbourhood mosque such as the Ak Mosque served the five daily prayers of one quarter and was also its meeting place. A Friday mosque such as Itchan Kala's Juma Mosque was larger and gathered a wider congregation for Friday prayer.