Po-i-Kalyan ("the Foot of the Great") gathers the Kalon Minaret, the Kalon Mosque, and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasa around one majestic square. The 12th-century minaret towers 47 metres over Bukhara’s old town and has guided travellers across the desert for nearly nine hundred years.
Don't miss
- The Kalon Minaret, with its bands of intricate carved brick
- The vast courtyard of the Kalon Mosque, big enough for thousands
- The blue domes of the Mir-i-Arab Madrasa across the square
Good to know
Best time
Late afternoon, when the brick glows warm and the square quiets down.
Respect
Mir-i-Arab is a working madrasa and usually closed to visitors; admire it from the square.
Photo spot
Stand under the mosque portal to frame the minaret through the arch.
The Tower of Death
When Genghis Khan sacked Bukhara in 1220, the story goes that he tipped his head back to take in the minaret and his helmet fell to the ground, and he ordered it spared while the city burned. For centuries it doubled as a place of execution, where criminals were thrown from the top, earning its grim nickname.
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