Bolo Haouz Mosque

Location - Bukhara

The Bolo Hauz Mosque was the most important mosque in the city, where, the Emir of Bukhara himself performed prayers every Friday along with many thousands of Muslims. The mosque is divided into 2 parts: winter and summer. The winter mosque together with the Hauz (artificial reservoir) was built in 1712, and the summer mosque with a small minaret in 1917. Long ago the Hauzes were a source of water and were built mostly near mosques or city squares, used for irrigation. Gradually, with the advent of aqueducts, artificial reservoirs ceased to fulfill their main role, but served only as a decoration of religious buildings and an excellent refuge for tourists in the summer heat.

Bolo Haouz Mosque

There is another name for the mosque - "Mosque of forty columns". This national name was given for its special elegant appearance, for forty tall and thin wooden posts painted with various wood carvings giving it its uniqueness. Graceful elongated columns rise to the sky and support the ceiling of the aivan, which served as a summer mosque. Bright paintings, patterns, carvings, lightness and airy structures impress many tourists. Thanks to the original columns a rather large building seems so weightless and elegant. We should pay a strong tribute to Shirin Muradova, the skillful architect and artist-ornamentalist.

Currently, the Bolo Hauz Mosque is operational. Many believers come to pray here now, as it was before. As it adjoins one tourist route together with the nearby famous Ark fortress, the mosque attracts a lot of tourists who come to observe and admire the unique architecture of the building and relax near the reservoir - the ancient deep Hauz.

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