Lyabi Khause Square — Attraction in Bukhara City

Lyabi-Khauz Ensemble / Plaza.

Lyabi-Khauz Ensemble, also known as the Lyabi-Khauz Plaza, is one of the most famous and popular attractions in the city. Here, magnificent architectural masterpieces dating back to the 16th century surround a striking artificial pool. The ensemble comprises three major monuments: the Kukeldash Madrasah (1568–69) to the north, and two structures built by Nadir Divan-Beghi—a khanqah (1620) for itinerant Sufi dervishes on the west, and a madrasah (1622) on the east. Nestled between them is a charming statue of Khodja Nasreddin, a witty folk hero from Sufi tales, joyfully depicted riding his donkey.

These elegant buildings line the banks of a spacious reservoir, measuring approximately 42 by 36 meters with a depth of 5 meters. The pond, fed by the Shah Rud canal immediately to the south, is believed to have been founded by the vizier Nadir Diwan-Begi, who oversaw its construction. Under his orders, a large reservoir was excavated between the two madrasas and the khanqah, becoming the crowning element of Bukhara’s majestic landscape.

Until the Soviet era, many such pools served as the city’s primary water source. In the 1920s and 1930s, most reservoirs were drained due to health concerns, but Lyabi-Khauz endured as a historic and...

A microcosm with its own pleasant atmosphere. Especially in the heat of the summer, it gives some coolness in the heat of the steppe. There are sit-down dining options nearby.One of the most popular tourist destinations is Lyabi-Hauz (literally translated as “reservoir’s shore”). This is the largest artificial reservoir of medieval Bukhara. It was dug around 1620 between the khanaka and the madrasah, built by order of the Khan’s Vizier Nadir Divan-begi. These new buildings, together with the Kukeldash madrasah, formed a perfect architectural ensemble with a pond in the center.Built in the 16th - 17th centuries, Lyab-i Hauz Ensemble is still one of the major Bukhara squares. It has a large artificial pond (42 meters in length, 36 meters in width and 5 meters in depth) with Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasah, Nadir Divan-Beghi Khanaka, both built in 1622 (khanaka - also spelled khanqah, khaniqah, khanqa, khaneqa, khanegah or khaneqah - is a Sufi hospice and monastery), and Kukeldash Madrasah built in 1568 on the three sides of it. Lyab-i Hauz means...

We arrived here on a weekend in October 2024, and the place is crowded with locals and tourists. They were sitting around the pool to enjoy the pleasant cooling effects of water, as it was a warm afternoon, then. The architecture of the building by the pool remains spellbinding.

A little bit of history, the Lyabi Hauz Square is centred on an artificial reservoir (a hauz in Persian) constructed on the orders of the Grand Vizier, Nadir Divanbegi, around 1620. It was the largest of the city reservoirs, fed directly from the main canal or Shah Rud (Royal Canal) which still bisects the old town. It was built with stone steps to allow the city’s water carriers to easily fill their leather buckets, regardless of the reservoir’s current water level.

Today the hauz lies idyllic, but during the time of the emirate the stagnant water supply was infested with a variety of waterborne diseases until the Soviets drained, restored and refilled it in the 1960s. The mulberry trees that line its shore...