Ak Mosque

Khiva is one of the most beautiful cities in Uzbekistan. The city has hardly changed during its existence, which makes it even more charming. Among the numerous architectural monuments of the city, buildings on the territory of Ichan-kala (inner city) stand out. There are palaces of rulers from the Sheibanid and Kungrat dynasties, as well as numerous madrassas and mosques.

Mosques in the East were places of worship and prayer. The very word "mosque" comes from the Arabic "masjid". Most mosques in the East are one-story buildings with courtyards. Opposite the portal is a prayer hall, and in one corner stands a minaret, from where the muezzin announces the beginning of prayer. Lines from the Koran are inscribed on the walls of the prayer hall. In the wall facing Mecca, there is an empty niche – mihrab, in which the imam prays. To the right of the mihrab is the minbar pulpit, from which the preacher imam reads his sermons to the faithful during Friday prayers.

Unlike standard mosques, Ak Masjid in Khiva has a peculiar architecture. This is a neighborhood mosque for daily prayer five times, located next to the eastern gate of Palvan darvoz. Ak-masjid was built in several stages. In 1647, under Sheibanid Anush Khan, the foundation of the mosque was laid along with the Anusha bathhouse, but the building itself was finally completed only during the reign of the Kungrat dynasty in 1838-42. This is evidenced by the inscriptions on the doors of the mosque, where it is also said that the Khiva craftsmen Kalandar and Nur Muhammad were engaged in wood carving.

The building is a hall with a dome, which is flanked by three galleries. Since the Ak Masjid is a quarterly mosque for daily prayers, it was built and decorated without any special ornamental frills. Perhaps the only decoration of the mosque are the doors and windows, which are decorated with first-class wood carvings. Gantry grilles are inserted into the windows of the Ak-Masjid mosque, which represent an openwork pattern. There is a mihrab in the southern wall of the mosque, with the help of which believers were guided to Mecca.

The mosque's foundation is square, covered with a white spherical dome. The prayer room itself is 6.33×6.35 meters in size. The walls of the prayer hall are covered with white gancha plaster. There are iwans with wooden columns on three sides of the room.

Ak Masjid, despite its small size, is one of the most beautiful monuments of medieval Khiva. Its simple, but at the same time refined architecture distinguishes the mosque from other monuments of Ichan-kala.