Minaret of Chor-Bakr Mausoleum

This slender minaret stands in the courtyard of the Chor-Bakr necropolis, a memorial complex about five kilometers west of Bukhara in what was once the village of Sumitan. Unlike the rest of the ensemble, which dates to the mid-16th century under the Shaybanid ruler Abdullah Khan II, the minaret was added only in the early 20th century as a smaller echo of the famous Kalyan Minaret in central Bukhara. It rises from the open section of the complex's courtyard among domed mausoleums, a mosque, a madrasah, and a khanaka built around the burial site of Abu Bakr Said, a 10th-century descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Together with the rest of Chor-Bakr, the minaret forms part of a site that grew over centuries from a dervish burial ground into a fortified memorial city for Bukhara's religious and noble families, and it remains a recognizable visual marker for visitors approaching the necropolis today.