Nurullabay Palace

History

Plans for a new palace for the khan’s family date from the 1890s. With no room left in Itchan Kala, it was built in Dishan Kala on the garden of the wealthy merchant Nurullabay, who — so the story goes — agreed to sell only if the palace bore his name. It still does.

Work began in 1904 under Muhammad Rahim Khan II and was completed in 1912 under his son Isfandiyar Khan. Specialists from Russia and Germany worked alongside Khivan craftsmen, and some tiles and ceramics came from St Petersburg. In 1912 Isfandiyar Khan added a separate reception hall for foreign guests, overseen by his vizier Islam Khodja. The family lived here until 1920.

Architecture

The complex, about 186 by 143 metres, comprises a gatehouse, a four-courtyard palace, the reception hall, a court of justice, a madrasa, servants’ quarters and a garden, all behind a towered wall 7.5 metres high. The carved plaster walls of the reception hall are touched with gold and silver, and its “golden ceiling” is worked in intricate girih patterns, while tall doors, coloured glass, parquet and tiled stoves sit beside Khorezmian woodcarving. Restoration was completed in 2017.