Gaukushan Madrassah

A few metres from the gallery, this 16th century maverick is unusual for its lopsided arrangement, created by the awkward layout of the road junction, and subsequent merger of its classroom and mosque together into the right-hand chamber. Its two-storey facade also gives way, rather unusually, to a one-storey courtyard. The Gaukushan was originally built on the site of an old slaughterhouse (Gaukushan means 'one who kills bulls'), but today houses a workshop of metal-chasers whose plates and ewers sell for dollars or sum, and hosts meals for tourists who book ahead.

The affiliated Gaukushan Minaret opposite actually serves the Khoja Mosque, a large cloistered mosque built in 1598 by the Juibar Sheikh Khodja Kalon for Friday prayers but now firmly locked up. Also nearby is the Nadir Olimjon Khan Caravanserai, where the new Centre for Development of Creative Photography is well worth a visit for its collection of photos by local photographers, with prints and postcards for sale. View a selection of photos at the website www.uzbekistan.dk