Travel to Uzbekistan: Khiva Town

Want to see what else is going on, besides the preservation of old buildings?

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For one thing, there's a major tourist trade--or was, until September 11, 2001.

The Soviets had no qualms about converting madrasas into other functions.

A newly roofed madrasa-turned-restaurant.

Still within the town walls, there are occupied residential neighborhoods.

The buildings are modest.

Outdoor oven.

One of the surest signs of occupance is the greenery.

It's a tradition here, and not just in the countryside around the city.  A Russian visitor, N. Muravyov, wrote in 1819: "In Germany I never saw such zealousness in cultivation as I did in Khiva.  All the houses are encircled with canals over which small bridges are erected..."

Outside the wall you'll find Europeanized buildings.

Here, in a wing of the post office, is a conscious fusion of East and West.