Vaulted corridors
In fired brick.
Marat Nadjibaev — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jonibek Qo'zimurodov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marat Nadjibaev — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jonibek Qo'zimurodov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kamol Azzam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · TwoWings — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kamol Azzam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · TwoWings — CC BY-SA 4.0
The ruins of a huge mudbrick building east of Termez, called Kirk Kiz, «forty girls», built by the Samanids in the 9th century and rebuilt several times up to the 15th. Popular tradition says it was a school for girls, but scholars still disagree about its purpose: a country palace, a khanqah or a caravanserai. The building is almost square, 53.3 by 54.8 m, with 54 rooms, enclosed by walls 2 to 2.5 m thick and anchored by massive corner towers. Two crossing corridors divide it into four quarters that meet at a central courtyard 11.5 m square. The walls are of mudbrick, with fired bricks of the same size used in the arches and vaults, and some vaulted corridors still stand. Its upper floor was destroyed in the Mongol invasion. No fixed fee is published, so ask on site. It pairs easily with the nearby Sultan Saodat complex; come in the morning or just before sunset, when the mud walls glow.
In fired brick.
Massive.
On the mud walls.
East of Termez, near Sultan Saodat
«Forty girls»: legend says it was a school for girls, while scholars suggest a palace, a khanqah or a caravanserai.
