Khiva and Itchan Kala

Archaeology suggests Khiva was founded about 2,500 years ago, and it celebrated its 2,500th anniversary in 1997. It was the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, and the great scholar al-Biruni was born either here or in nearby Kath.

Itchan Kala, Khiva's walled inner town, preserves more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses — among them the Kunya-Ark citadel, the Juma Mosque with its 112 carved wooden columns, the Pahlavon Mahmud mausoleum and the massive unfinished Kalta Minor minaret.

Walking between its mud-brick walls feels like stepping back in time, which is why Khiva is called an open-air museum city.