Dishan-Kala, the Outer Town

Ichan-Kala was the khans’ town; Dishan-Kala, the outer town, was where most of Khiva lived and worked. In 1842 Allakuli Khan enclosed it with a wall about six kilometres long to protect it from Turkmen raids. Tradition says the wall was raised in about a month, with the work divided among the people of the oasis. It had a number of gates, and while much of the wall has crumbled, several sections and gates survive, including the restored Kosh-Darvoza on the northern side.

What to find here

• The Khiva bazaar, just outside the Palvan-Darvoza, for bread, dried fruit, melons in season and daily life
• The Nurullabay Palace, the last residence of the khans, completed in 1912
• Early twentieth-century buildings of the late khanate, including a former hospital and a former post and telegraph office, now a small museum of communications
• Local mausoleums and small mosques in the residential lanes

Experiencing it

Most visitors cross Dishan-Kala only in a car between hotel and gate. It is worth walking instead, early in the morning when the bazaar is opening and the light is soft. Stretches of the old outer wall appear between houses, and there are few other visitors. A half-day route can link the bazaar, the Nurullabay Palace and the northern gate before you return to Ichan-Kala.