Bolo Hovuz

The Bolo Hauz mosque faces the Ark citadel in Bukhara's old Registan district and takes its name from the octagonal pool, or hauz, in its forecourt, with "Bolo Hauz" translating roughly as "the mosque of the pool." Built in 1712, it served for a time as the court mosque used by the city's rulers, since it stood directly opposite the seat of power at the Ark. Its most striking feature is a deep wooden iwan supported by twenty slender columns of walnut, poplar, and elm, arranged in two rows to form two bays of covered prayer space; at roughly twelve meters, the coffered and painted ceiling it carries is among the tallest of its kind in Central Asia. A separate minaret was added in front of the mosque in 1917. The mosque remains in active religious use and is included in Bukhara's UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic center.