Day 3 tour to the Sitorai Mokhi Hosa

 Today was the 6th day of our practice. And it held on my favourite part of the city Mokhi Hosa palace.

The Sitorai Mokhi Khosa Palace is the summer residence of the last Emir of Bukhara, Mir Sayyid Alimkhan, located 4 kilometers north of Bukhara.

The place for the palace was not chosen by chance - to determine the coolest place, an ancient method was used: sheep carcasses were spread out in the supposed places of construction. In the place where the meat was spoiled last, and construction began.

The first palace on this site was built in the middle of the XIX century by the Bukhara Emir Nasrullahan, but time and history have not spared him. Just a few decades later, another Bukhara emir, Mir Sayyid Alimkhan, erected another palace of unprecedented beauty on the same place. It was named after any wife of the emir - Sitora, and Mokhi-Khosa means "A star like the Moon" in Tajik.

Unfortunately, this palace was destroyed, and in its place at the beginning of the XX century, by order of the last emir of Bukhara, Mir Sayyid Alimkhan, the current palace was built.  It was decided to keep the name the same.

The palace wonderfully combines a mixture of European and Oriental architectural styles. The best Bukhara craftsmen of that time, as well as two Russian engineers, were invited to build it Margulis and Sakovich. The construction was supervised by architect Khoja Hafiz, who had been trained in Russia in the direction of the construction of country residences.

The main building of the palace includes several halls for receiving guests, as well as the emir's private rooms. A special place here is occupied by the White Hall, which was created under the guidance of the famous master Usto Shirin Muradov, to whom a monument was subsequently erected on the territory of the summer residence.

The white hall is decorated with ganch, which was laid on the walls covered with mirrors. At the same time, no pattern is ever repeated. It is worth noting that there are a huge number of mirrors in Sitorai Mohi-Khosa. Here you can see Venetian mirrors, Japanese mirrors enclosed in unusual frames, and even a trellis that creates a reflection that repeats 40

In addition, the palace has a summer tea room, a small minaret, as well as a guest house richly inlaid with gold leaf. And each place has its own stories and legends that you can talk about for hours.

Sitorai Mohi-Khosa Palace

There is also a swimming pool on the territory of the palace, where the emir's concubines used to bathe, and he, contemplating them from the height of a nearby gazebo, threw a flower to the one who was supposed to spend that night with him.

Sitorai Mohi-Khosa Palace

Currently, the palace building houses the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts, opened in 1927. The palace is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

Currently, the museum includes the following expositions: "The interior of the summer palace", "Clothes of a Bukhara citizen of the late 19th - early 20th centuries" and "Artistic embroidery of the Bukhara region and household utensils of the late 19th - early 20th centuries". The exposition includes palace furniture of the XIX-XX centuries, jewelry and gold-woven products of Bukhara masters, art objects from Russia and Japanese porcelain of the XIV-XX centuries.

The palace is surrounded by a blooming garden with fountains and numerous gazebos, and at the main entrance visitors are greeted by two sculptures of lions carved from Gazgan marble.

Peacocks strut along the paths, as they did a hundred years ago, inviting you to plunge into the world of former glory and splendor, striking the imagination of visitors to this day.

Our practice day was full of adventure and wonderful. I learn new things and information about palace