KHIVA, an oriental dream

The mysterious city with blue ceramics, hidden in the Kyzyl-Kum desert of red sands near the indomitable Amu Darya river, Khiva offers the eager traveler a different architecture from the other cities of Uzbekistan. Huddled around its imposing walls, Khiva is the last great oasis on the caravan route in the heart of Central Asia, a rare and beautiful example of oriental architecture.
     Khiva is situated in the region of Khorezm. Hundreds of years before the appearance of the great Silk Road, ancient Khorezm had contact with Europe, the East, Siberia and the civilizations of the South. It was the cradle of 3 civilisations peculiar to Uzbekistan. The Khanate of Khorezm was already famous from the 4^th century B.C. It was a powerful state. A legendary city, Khiva gives us the exotic image of an old oriental city particularly in the old quarters of Itchan Kala.