Tash-Khauli Palace
Tash-Khauli Palace in Khiva, Uzbekistan
Tash-Khauli Palace is located in Khiva, within Ichan-Kala, the historic inner city surrounded by fortress walls. The complex was built in the first half of the 19th century by order of Allakuli Khan and served as the khan's residence. In its layout, it combines living quarters, ceremonial courtyards, and halls for official receptions and hearings.
From the outside, Tash-Khauli looks restrained and even austere: high walls of fired brick and an enclosed plan create the image of a fortified residence. Inside, the palace is arranged differently. Here, courtyards with iwan verandas, halls with painted ceilings, carved wooden columns, and majolica cladding characteristic of Khorezm architecture are revealed.
The complex is known for its thoughtful layout and rich decorative design. It includes numerous rooms of various purposes, and the most notable parts of the palace are associated with the khan's chambers, the harem, the ceremonial area, and rooms for official audiences. Thanks to this, Tash-Khauli provides a clear idea of court life in the Khiva Khanate in the 19th century.
Today, the palace is part of the historic ensemble of Ichan-Kala, which is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Some of the rooms are used for museum exhibitions, where visitors can see materials on the history of Khorezm, examples of decorative and applied arts, and elements of traditional artistic decoration. For tourists, this is one of the places in Khiva where the features of urban palace architecture are especially evident.
Tash-Khauli Palace on the map
Tash-Khauli Palace: interiors, courtyards, and museum halls
The complex shows the layout of the khan's residence and palace life in Khorezm.
The khan's residence with courtyards, iwan verandas, and Khorezm majolica
During a visit to Tash-Khauli, tourists usually explore several inner courtyards connected by passageways and iwan verandas. Special attention is drawn to the tiled walls, wood carving on the columns and doors, as well as ceilings with traditional painting. In different parts of the complex, visitors can see how the decoration of the spaces changed depending on their purpose - from more secluded living quarters to ceremonial areas for receptions.
The museum exhibitions housed in some of the halls help visitors understand the structure of the khan's court and the features of the region's craft culture. Household items, examples of ceramics, textiles, and decorative art related to the history of Khorezm are displayed here. The visit usually does not require haste: the palace is interesting not only for its individual halls, but also for the sequence of spaces itself, which reveals the logic of Eastern palace architecture.
Tash-Khauli is easy to combine with a walk through Ichan-Kala: nearby are madrasahs, mosques, minarets, and the city gates of old Khiva. Thanks to its location in the historic center of Khiva, visitors usually come here on foot while exploring the main monuments of the inner city.
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Photos of the palace
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