Idea #632 – Visiting the largest Central Asian madrasa in Khiva
The madrasah Mohammed Amin Khan is an ancient madrassa (madrassah) located in the fortified district of Ichan Kala in Khiva. It was built between 1851 and 1854, during the reign of Mohammed Amin Khan. The largest madrasa in Central Asia, it could accommodate two hundred and sixty students in a building of 72 meters by 60 meters and a square courtyard of 38 meters side. The old student cells are mostly designed with two rooms. Those in front give each one on a balcony in loggia. The madrasa also housed the high court of Khiva Khanate. The madrassah was deconfessionalised in 1924; it housed a prison in the 1930s, where the regime of Stalin imprisoned prisoners to be deported in the gulags… For fifteen years, she received a happier destination, becoming a luxury hotel with a hundred rooms.
Some pictures
Where is it ?
Itchan Kala, Khiva, Ouzbekistan
