Bolo-Hauz (Forty Pillar) Mosque, Bukhara, Uzbekistan July 2009
Bukhara citadel of Ark obtained its modern appearance in the period of the Man-ghit dynasty (1747-1920). Ark was the center of Bukhara statehood. There was a palace of Bukhara amir, mosques, exchequer, governmental administration and prison. Its grand entrance fronted the Registan Square.
The massive gates were reinforced with two towers connected by the gallery above. In the past a lash was hanged above the gate symbolizing the power of amir. Arc suffered much in 1920 when Red Army conducted shell attack and bombed the city.
Bolo-Hauz mosque
In the past Registan Square was occupied by numerous beautiful buildings. Today there is only monument of medieval Bukhara - the Bolo-Hauz Ensemble. It is a classic sample of Central Asian mosque: the winter building of 1712, summer aivan of the early 20th century with ornamented ceiling and wooden columns, small minaret constructed in 1917 by usto Shirin and small basin.
The brightest feature of mosque is decor of aivan which columns are made from two trunks each and have stalactite capitals.
Balyand mosque
Balyand (High) Mosque is a small mosque in the rich Bukhara quarter. Its age is more than 500 years. G-shaped column aivan surrounds rectangular winter part of mosque. It served a summer mosque. Mihrab and wall panels are faced with mosaics, and walls have poiychromic painting with gilding. Vegetative ornament and inscriptions in Sulth dominate. Wooden columns with stalactite capitals on marble bases and ceiling of avian were done in the 19th century. The ceiling of mosque is unique: it is made from planks, decorated with geometrical ornament and small wooden cupolas.
Also known as the Forty Pillar Mosque, this is where the emir would stride out of a Friday from his residence in the nearby Registan for the noon prayers. Its slender, elegantly carved wooden pillars hold up a beautifully restored painted coffered ceiling. On Fridays once again the faithful come here to pray, and there are often so many that they spill out of the mosque onto the platform near the reflecting pool.
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