Kalyan Minaret
File / Documentation![]()
Name
250346_sv.jpg
Size
1009.45 KB
Format
JPEG
Checksum (MD5)
4ddb03f87a07c7f28df751b2a5ff37e8
Creator(s)
Central Asian, Islamic, Uzbek
Islamic, Central Asian
Time period
creation date: 1127-1129/521-523 AH
creation date: original mosque & minaret, 1121-1122/515 AH, creation date: rebuilt, ca. 1430/833 AH
Location
Site: Bukhara (Uzbekistan)
Cultural context
Central Asian
Islamic
Uzbek
Description
general view, rear of entrance portal seen from within mosque courtyard, with upper portion of Kalyan Minaret visible, 1994
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.
Work type
Minaret, Mosque
Medium
brick
Type
Image
Rights
(c) 1994 Manu Sobti
Access rights
All rights reserved
Persistent Link
