Kalyan Minaret
File / Documentation![]()
Name
144088_sv.jpg
Size
2.79 MB
Format
JPEG
Checksum (MD5)
848ce8117c00844a617f4db85ef0cbe5
Creator(s)
Central Asian, Islamic, Uzbek
Time period
creation date: 1127-1129
Location
Site: Bukhara (Uzbekistan)
Cultural context
Central Asian
Islamic
Uzbek
Description
Rising 46 meters (150ft), the Kalyan minaret is the most prominent visual landmark within the city of Bukhara. Erected as part of a twelfth century mosque later replaced by the existing Kalyan mosque, the baked brick construction forms a thick, tapering cylindrical shaft capped by a rotunda with 16 arches. A multi-tiered muqarnas cornice crowns the entire structure. Baked brickwork decorates the shaft in bands of various, unrepeated patterns.
The minaret was not only used for the call to prayer, but also as a watchtower during periods of war. Tradition also relates that the condemned were in earlier times sentenced to a death on the stones beneath the minaret, after a fall from its heights.
The minaret was not only used for the call to prayer, but also as a watchtower during periods of war. Tradition also relates that the condemned were in earlier times sentenced to a death on the stones beneath the minaret, after a fall from its heights.
general view, 1987
Work type
Minaret
Medium
brick
Type
Image
Rights
(c) Roya Marefat 1987
Access rights
All rights reserved
Persistent Link
