Bolo Hauz Mosque

The Bolo Hauz Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Forty Columns, represents one of Bukhara's most architecturally distinctive religious buildings, famous for its stunning wooden colonnade and richly decorated prayer hall. Built in 1712 opposite the main entrance to the Ark fortress, this mosque served as the primary place of worship for the Emirs of Bukhara and their court, maintaining its function as a Friday mosque to this day.

The mosque's most striking feature is its magnificent iwan (covered porch) supported by twenty slender wooden columns, which together with their reflections in the rectangular hauz (pool) in front of the mosque, create the illusion of forty columns - hence its popular name. The columns, carved from walnut and poplar wood, support an intricately painted wooden ceiling featuring traditional geometric and floral motifs in brilliant blues, golds, and reds. The prayer hall itself contains beautiful wall paintings and Arabic calligraphy, while the complex includes a functioning minaret from which the call to prayer still echoes across the old city. 

The mosque remains active today, serving both as a place of worship for local Muslims and as a testament to the continuity of Islamic architectural traditions in Bukhara.