Baths "Anush-khana" (17th-century bathhouse complex)

The baths of Anush Khan stand next to the Ak Mosque; the foundations were laid in 1664. Khiva owes the fame of its baths to the historian Abulghazi Khan, father of Anush Khan. The baths served as a waqf: their income maintained the Ak Mosque.

Eastern baths of the period consisted of a vestibule, changing rooms and the washing chambers proper. The arrangement here is the same, with an under-floor heating system and half-sunken rooms that held the warmth well. The engineering — drainage, heating, water supply — still impresses.

A story attaches to the name. Abulghazi Khan had nine sons and badly wanted a daughter. When the tenth child was due he was told a girl had been born, and he gladly named her after his favourite Armenian concubine, Anusha. Many years later the khan, a veteran of many successful battles, was taken prisoner by the emir of Bukhara. His sons were in no hurry to rescue their father; Anusha set out at once. The emir was astonished to see the khan's daughter instead of nine brothers. Anusha proposed a bargain: if she could astonish him, he would release her father. The emir agreed. Anusha then threw off her clothes — and beneath them was the body of a young man. The emir had to keep his word. Coming home, Abulghazi Khan said: it turns out I have not nine sons but one — Anusha.

In gratitude for his rescue he built a mosque and a bath-house in honour of his tenth child.