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Kalyan Minaret, designed by Bako, was erected in 1127 by Arslan-Khan and is considered to be the symbol of the city. According to legend, Arslan Khan had killed an imam in a quarrel. That night, the imam appeared to him in a dream and said: "You have killed me, now oblige me by laying my head on a spot where nobody can tread." Thus the minaret was built over his grave. Also, according to the records of the time, the builders made an error in the construction of the minaret and it soon fell to the ground. When the remnants were cleared, Arslan-Khan ordered that a new minaret, stronger and more beautiful, the likes of which had not been seen in Bukhara or in the entire East, be built. This time it was built so good that in 850 years, it has never needed any structural repairs!
About a hundred years after its construction, the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around it was destroyed by his men.
The Kalyan Minaret rises to a height of 47 meters above the city and when it was built, it was probably the tallest building in Central Asia. It is supported by deep foundations and is 9 metres in diameter at the bottom and 6 metres at the top. The minaret is decorated with 14 ornamental parallel bands, each of them different. They include the first use of the glazed blue tiles that became ubiquitous across Central Asia. Slightly lighter patches can be seen on the south and east sides, which were damaged by artillery in 1920.
The inside of the minaret is hollow. It is possible to climb it via a special footbridge and 105 stairs that lead you to the top. The minaret was not only used for the call to prayer, but also as a watchtower during periods of war and as a guide to approaching caravans on the Silk Route. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the minaret acquired an unsavory reputation and was known as a "tower of death": condemned were hurled to their deaths from this tower by order of the emir.