Po-i-Kalyan: Bukhara's landmark square
Po-i-Kalyan (Poi Kalyan) is the triad of the Kalyan Minaret, the Kalyan Mosque and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah around one square in the old town of Bukhara. The name is Persian (Tajik) for “at the foot of the great one”, meaning the minaret. The ensemble dates mainly from the 16th century, with the minaret much older, and it is the central architectural ensemble of Bukhara and the most recognizable sight of the old city.
Tours visiting Po-i-Kalyan
The tours below all include the Po-i-Kalyan square, usually as part of a full guided day in Bukhara.
Five Stans of Central Asia Tour
Start on an extraordinary adventure across the heart of Central Asia with our Five Stan Tour, exploring the unique…
Four Stan Tour through Central Asia
Discover the legendary Silk Road on this 18-day small-group tour through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and…
The Best of the Five Stan Tour
Embark on a 22-day journey through all five countries of Central Asia, beginning in Bishkek and ending in Ashgabat. In…
Winter Holidays on the Silk Road
Discover Uzbekistan's great Silk Road cities in the winter season: 7 days from Tashkent to Samarkand and Bukhara and…
Silk Road Tour
Discover the Five Stans – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – on one 17-day journey…
Uzbekistan – Tajikistan Highlights Tour
Combine the great Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan with the ancient sites and mountain lakes of northern Tajikistan on…
Visiting Po-i-Kalyan
The square is open at all times and lit at night, and you can walk around it freely. The Kalyan Mosque charges a small fee (about 20,000 som in 2025–2026), but at sunrise, before the official opening, you can often step in for free. Allow 1–2 hours, and come back at sunset when the brick turns gold; the rooftop cafés north of the square have the best view.
- Kalyan Minaret (1127): about 46 m tall. It survived Genghis Khan and was later nicknamed the Tower of Death.
- Kalyan Mosque (completed 1514): a vast courtyard ringed by domed galleries.
- Mir-i-Arab Madrasah (1535–36): still a working religious school, so only the entrance hall is open.
Can you climb the Kalyan Minaret?
No. The spiral staircase of about 105 steps inside the minaret has been closed to visitors for several years, so the tower can only be admired from below. For a view over the old town, try the rooftop cafés around the square or the viewing platform of the Shukhov Tower next to the Ark.
Kalyan Minaret
The Great Kalyan Minaret is a symbol of Bukhara. In the past it stood for the authority of the spiritual leaders and was used to call Muslims to prayer. It was built in 1127 under Arslan Khan and, according to the inscription on the cornice, designed by an architect named Bako. Rising about 46 m (48 m including the top), it has dominated the Bukharan skyline for nearly 900 years and was the first sign of arrival in Bukhara for exhausted caravans. It is still the tallest of all the minarets in Bukhara. Because criminals were once executed from it, it was also nicknamed the Tower of Death.
The minaret is a brick pillar on foundations 10 m deep, with reeds laid underneath as an early form of earthquake-proofing that has surely helped it survive. It tapers from a base diameter of 9 m to 6 m at the top. A legend says that Genghis Khan once looked up at the tower and his helmet fell from his head. The great warrior had to bend down to pick it up and said: “I have never bowed to anyone, but this building is so grand that it deserves a bow.” It is one of the few Bukharan buildings that survived the Mongol assault.
Along the whole length of the minaret there are 12 decorative belts, each with its own ornament. A spiral staircase of about 105 steps leads up inside the tower from the roof of the mosque, but it has been closed to visitors for several years.
Kalyan Mosque
Kalyan Mosque (or Kalan) is one of the central religious attractions of Bukhara. The mosque is vast and can hold 12,000 people. It was completed in 1514 under the first Shaybanids and, except in Soviet times, has served as the main Friday mosque of Bukhara ever since.
The mosque replaced an old Qarakhanid cathedral mosque from the 12th century, which was built together with the Kalyan Minaret. This Shaybanid mosque resembles the Timurid cathedral mosques of the same age in Samarkand and Herat. It was built in a traditional rectangular plan with decorations in glazed mosaic. In the courtyard there are covered galleries with 288 domes, and the small octagonal structure in the courtyard is the pulpit.
Mir-i-Arab Madrasa
The Mir-i-Arab Madrasah stands opposite the Kalyan Mosque. It is one of the most famous Islamic schools in the former Soviet Union. The name means “Emir of the Arabs”: the madrasah was completed in 1535–36 under the Shaybanid ruler Ubaydulla Khan for the sheikh Mir-i-Arab of Yemen (Abdullah Yamani), the spiritual mentor of the dynasty.
About 114 rooms are arranged in three corners of the two-storey building, and the fourth corner holds the tombs of Ubaydulla Khan and Mir-i-Arab. The khan’s grave with a wooden gravestone lies at the foot of the sheikh’s tomb. The portal in the middle of the facade has a semi-octagonal arch, and the outside is decorated with carved mosaics of plant ornaments and inscriptions. According to the widespread version, to raise funds for the madrasah the khan sold three thousand captured Persians.
For a long time it was considered one of the best schools in Central Asia, and many notable scholars and thinkers studied here. Interestingly, the madrasah kept working as a religious school even in the Soviet Union. Today it is still a working madrasah, so visitors can only look in from the entrance hall.
