Bukhara
Low angle view of courtyard, Kalyan Mosque, 1514, and Kalyan Minaret, 12th century, Bukhara, Uzbekistan, pictured on July 9, 2010 in the afternoon. Built on the site of several predecessors (the original mosque dated from 795), the Kalyan Mosque is Bukhara's Friday mosque. Its plan is an open rectangle with four courtyards and seven entrances. A colonnaded arcade and 288 domes surround the vast central courtyard and one huge blue dome rises from the West side of the building. The baked brick minaret, commissioned by Arslan Khan and designed by Bako, is 48 metres high and its diametre is 9 metres at the bottom and 6 metres at the top. Bukhara, a city on the Silk Route is about 2500 years old. Its long history is displayed both through the impressive monuments and the overall town planning and architecture. Picture by Manuel Cohen
