Khiva

Khiva lies southwest of Urgench, the capital of Khorezm province.
It has been the capital of the Khwarezmid Empire.
It's historic heart, inscribed in the World Heritage list in 1991, is so well preserved and renovated that you feel like in a museum. The fortification walls of the Ichon-Qala date from the 18th century but are obviously renovated.

Kalta Minor Minaret remains unfinished after the death of Mohammed Amin Khan in 1855.

It was raining constantly while we visited, so there were less tourists around.
Remarkable are the Djuma Mosque with its 218 wooden columns and the Pahlavon Mahmud Mausoleum.