Khalchayan

Khalchayan lies ten kilometres from Denau in Surkhandarya region. The ancient settlement is dated to the middle of the first millennium BC.

Excavation uncovered a citadel 240 metres square, enclosed by a city wall and a ditch — this belongs to the Greco-Bactrian period. In the early centuries AD, under the Kushans, Khalchayan expanded and new buildings kept appearing.

Inside the citadel stood a dynastic palace of 26 by 35 metres, in three parts: a ceremonial section and two side wings. The ceremonial part began with a four-columned iwan opening through three doorways into the main hall, where sufa benches were built for sitting. Painting and sculpture on secular subjects covered the hall walls: an audience at the king's palace, a march of horsemen, the royal retinue, battle scenes. Beyond the halls, the central part held many rooms and corridors.

The painting here is in colour, and the faces of the sculpted figures are strongly individual portraits, each with its own character. That is rare, and it is why Khalchayan is prized: the work is counted among the unique art of its time.

In time the palace changed its purpose and became a sanctuary where ancestors were deified.