Poi Kalon

The Poi Kalon complex in central Bukhara centres on the 12th-century Kalon Minaret, whose spiral bands of carved terracotta brickwork rise 47 metres above the old city. The adjacent Kalon Mosque and Mir-i-Arab Madrasa complete an ensemble that has defined Bukhara's skyline for nine centuries. Photographers favour late afternoon when the low sun picks out the relief brickwork of the minaret's surface.