Chor Minor (Char Minar Uzbek: Chor minor), alternatively known as the Madrasah of Khalif Niyaz-kul, is a historic gatehouse for a now-destroyed madrasa in the historic city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. It is located in a lane northeast of the Lyab-i Hauz complex. It is protected as a cultural heritage monument, and also it is a part of the World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Bukhara. In Persian, the name of the monument means "four minarets", referring to the building's four towers.
The structure was built by Khalif Niyaz-kul, a wealthy Bukharan of Turkmen origin in 1807 under the rule of the Manghit dynasty.[1] The four towered structure is sometimes mistaken for a gate to the madras that once existed behind the structure, however, the Char-Minar is actually a complex of buildings with two functions, ritual and shelter. Originally, it was a part of a complex of a madrasa, which was demolished.[2] The building has no analogs in the architecture of Bukhara, and the inspiration and motives of Niyazkul are unclear.[3]
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