Khiva
View from the front of the entrance to the Kukhna Ark or fortress, Khiva, Uzbekistan, pictured on July 6, 2010, at dawn. The Kukhna Ark is the original home of the Khans. Although its foundations are 5th century, most of the complex is 19th century. Buildings include the Summer Mosque, 1838, whose beautiful blue and white tiles were made by Ibadullah and Abdullah Jin, the old mint now housing a coin museum, and the Kurinish Khana (throne room), 1804-06, with its arcade or iwan, where audiences were held in the open air in summer and enclosed by a yurt in winter. 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
