Kalta Minor

Squat, broad and sheathed from base to top in glazed tiles of turquoise, green, blue and white, Kalta Minor is the most recognisable silhouette inside the walls of Khiva — and it owes its fame to the fact that it was never finished. Its name means "short minaret" in Uzbek. It stands in Itchan Kala, the walled inner town of Khiva, whose mosques, madrasas and palaces form a historic quarter inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The minaret was commissioned by Muhammad Amin Khan, ruler of the Khanate of Khiva, alongside the large madrasa that bears his name, and it is sometimes treated as part of that complex. The khan's ambition was to raise the tallest minaret in the Muslim world: the plans called for a height of 70 to 80 metres, and some sources speak of even more, with a base 14.2 metres across that would taper sharply as it rose. Work began in 1852, but in 1855, when the tower had reached about 29 metres, the khan was killed in battle near Sarakhs during a campaign against the Turkmens, and construction stopped for good. The stump that remained became, almost by accident, one of the defining images of the city.

What makes Kalta Minor unique is its surface: it is the only minaret covered entirely in glazed tilework and majolica. Bands of geometric ornament in dark green, blue and white with turquoise accents run around the whole tower, which is also known as the blue minaret. Among them are inscriptions in nasta'liq script carrying verses by Muhammad Riza Ogahi, the Khivan poet and historian who watched the minaret being built; his lines compare it to the Tuba tree of paradise and to a pillar holding up the vault of heaven. A wooden staircase inside leads up from the second level.

Getting there

Kalta Minor stands in Itchan Kala, the walled inner town of Khiva, beside the Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasa. The nearest airport is Urgench International Airport (UGC), about 33 km away.