The Tash Hauli is the largest single building inside Itchan Kala, a palace of more than 150 rooms arranged around three courtyards: a reception court for foreign envoys, a justice court for trials, and a harem for the khan's wives and concubines. The harem is the most lavishly tiled space in Khiva — every wall, every column base, every ceiling panel covered in blue-and-white floral patterns of staggering intricacy.
Each of the khan's four wives had her own apartments along one side of the harem courtyard, and the central iwan opens onto an open courtyard where the household would gather in summer. The reception court has a roofed dais where the khan held audiences. Allow at least an hour.