Both Arz-Khovli and Ishrat-Khovli share an identical layout. The southern part of the square courtyards features high single-pillar aivans with main houses behind them. The other sides of the courtyards contain guest rooms with small aivans on the second floor. The harem includes five excellent aivans, designed to catch the northern winds. Behind these aivans are two rooms accessed through a main majolica entrance with a painted ceiling. These rooms are simply decorated.
The architectural elements of the palace are both efficient and elegant. While the exterior facades are not faced, the walls of the courtyards are divided into panels and decorated with majolica in a carpet pattern. The high aivans have retained their decorative design, including pendant ceilings. The carved marble bases and wooden pillars, along with majolica slabs, feature geometric and plant decorations, as well as epigraphic narratives about the history of Khiva khans. The railings on the second floor are composed of panjar-as fences, and the decorated ceilings are painted in golden-red hues. The interior decor is relatively simple, with blooming trees depicted in restrained black and blue colors on the walls.
The Tash-Khovli Palace is renowned for its thoughtful design, which contrasts open and closed structures and creatively uses light and shade. This palace vividly represents the original synthesis of architecture and monumental decorative art by Khorezm masters.
Trade has historically flourished at the gates of Pahla-van-darvaza. Small street stalls selling food have always been present, and in the 1830s, Alla-Kuli-khan ordered the construction of a nearby caravanserai. Goods were brought to this area by caravans from various countries.
The caravanserai’s design is simple and functional. It is a symmetrical rectangular building with a courtyard surrounded by two-story vaulted rooms. Traditionally, a portal separates the exit, and the yard’s level is lowered in the center, facilitating the unloading of beasts of burden. Merchants stayed and traded their goods here.
Adjacent to the main facade, oriented to the south, a covered bazaar (tim) was built. Today, the tim and caravanserai form a single area. The covered bazaar is a multi-cupola composition stretching along a west-east axis, with a central hall leading to the caravanserai. Trading is conducted in the side stalls. In earlier centuries, one could purchase goods brought from China, England, and the Bukhara Khanate.
