The Po-i-Kalyan complex — "At the Foot of the Great One" — is the heart of Bukhara's old city and one of the most complete medieval Islamic ensembles in Central Asia. Three major monuments share a single plaza: the Kalyan Minaret (1127), the Kalan Mosque, and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah. The ensemble was assembled over five centuries and yet reads as a coherent whole.
The Kalan Mosque is large enough to hold 10,000 worshippers; its blue-tiled portal is among the finest examples of Timurid decoration in Uzbekistan. Directly opposite, the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah shimmers with turquoise faience and still functions as a theological college. Non-Muslim visitors cannot enter the madrasah's interior, but the courtyard of the mosque is open, and simply standing in the square at dusk — when the minaret glows amber and the madrasah tiles shift from blue to violet — justifies the trip to Bukhara on its own.