Khiva
Low angle view of a young girl passing through the Ota Darvoza gate, Khiva, Uzbekistan, pictured on July 7, 2010, in the late afternoon light of a summer day with the Muhammad Aminkhan Madrasah and Kalta Minor in the background. Khiva's old city, Ichan Kala, is surrounded by 2.2 kilometres of crenellated and bastioned city walls. Some sections may be 5th century, but the strongest sections were built 1686-88 by Arang Khan. The main gate today is the restored western Ota Darvoza (Father Gate). The Kalta Minor or Short Minaret was commissioned by Mohammed Amin Khan in 1852 to stand 70 m. high, but was abandoned when he died in 1855, and remains only 26 m. high. Khiva, ancient and remote, is the most intact Silk Road city. Ichan Kala, its old town, was the first site in Uzbekistan to become a World Heritage Site(1991). Picture by Manuel Cohen
