The story of Kalta Minor

This unfinished tower was meant to be the tallest minaret in the world. Muhammad Amin Khan, ruler of the Khiva Khanate, wanted it to surpass the 73-metre Qutb Minar in India; it was planned to reach 70–80 metres, and some sources even mention 110. Look at the base: it is 14.2 metres across, and the tower was designed to narrow sharply as it rose, to keep it stable.

Construction began in 1852 and stopped abruptly in 1855 at 29 metres, when the khan died in a battle near Sarakhs. The tower rose before the eyes of the poet and historian Muhammad Riza Ogahi, and twelve of his sixteen historical verses can be read on it.

Broken off in Soviet times, the writings were later found in Ogahi's manuscript and restored by master Rustam Tohirov. It is the only minaret covered entirely in glazed tiles, white, green and turquoise, which is why it is also called the blue minaret.