Vabkent Minaret in Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Vabkent Minaret

Kalyan Minaret has a double: in the middle of the 12th century one of Bako's talented pupils built a similar minaret in Vabkent - a town near Bukhara. It is a well-balanced 39 meters high brick tower. Vabkent Minaret as well as Kalyan is crowned with a fine arch named 'lamp' by analogy with lighthouse ('minaret' goes from Arabian 'manara' - a place of burning fire, lighthouse). With its size and harmony these two Bukhara minarets defined value and status of minarets in Central Asian architecture as a symbol of Islamic culture.