Itchan-Kala (Walled Inner City of Khiva)

The 10-metre-high mud-brick walls enclose the entire historic core of Khiva — the most complete medieval fortified town in Central Asia.

Itchan-Kala is the inner walled town of Khiva and the most complete fortified medieval city in Central Asia. The 26-hectare enclosure, surrounded by 2.2 km of 10-metre-high mud-brick walls reinforced with semicircular towers, contains 51 monuments, 250 traditional houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, mosques, madrasas, mausoleums and a Khan’s palace. Although the city was a Silk Road oasis since at least the 6th century, the bulk of what stands today dates from the Khanate of Khiva (1511–1920) — when the slave trade made Khiva one of the most powerful and notorious cities of Central Asia. UNESCO inscribed Itchan-Kala on the World Heritage List in 1990 as ‘an outstanding example of the Muslim architecture of Central Asia, with several outstanding structures’. Walking the walls at dawn or sunset is one of the signature experiences of any Silk Road tour. Travelers reach Khiva from Urgench (30 km / 40 min by taxi) after the short flight from Tashkent.