Sitori-i-Mokhi Khosa palace, Bukhara

Sitori-i-Mokhi Khosa palace, Bukhara (Uzbekistan)

The palace used to be a summer resting place for the Khans of Bukhara when the city was under the Russian protectorate. It features a subtle Oriental and Russian decoration and style.In the mid-XIX century Emir of Bukhara Nasrullah Khan decided to build a new country seat for himself. To choose the coolest place not to suffer from summer heat the architects made recourse to an old method - dressed muttons were put on the potential sites of construction. The place where the meat got spoiled last was chosen for the construction of the suburban pearl of Bukhara. Unfortunately this palace did not survive to the present day.Several decades later another emir of Bukhara Mir Sayyd Muhammad Alim Khan initiated the construction of a new palace there. A legend has it that Emir devoted the palace to his wife Sitora. The construction work which lasted several years resulted in the residence of unprecedented beauty. The Bukhara architects having trained in Russia managed to combine oriental and western styles in their creation. After a while the Emirs wife died and her name was given to the palace. It was named Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa translated from Tajik as Star like the Moon and this name was preserved to this day. Unfortunately the Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa also shared the fate of the first palace it was destroyed.The extant Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa Palace was built in 1912-1918 by order of the last Emir of Bukhara Mir Sayyd Muhammad Alim Khan.The palace main building consists of several reception halls and emirs private rooms. Special attention was given to White Hall decorated by the famous master usto Shirin Muradov who was subsequently perpetuated in a monument installed in the territory of the summer residence