1. Archaeologists believe that the city of Khiva has existed since the 6th century, even though the first recorded mention of it wasn’t until the 10th. Khiva may quite possibly be older than Joan Rivers.
2. In 1873, Russians conquered Khiva, but apparently it was so pretty they decided to pretty much leave it the way it was.
3. The outer town of Khiva is called Dichan Kala, and used to be protected by a wall with 11 gates, which to me, sounds like a lot of orifices.
4. Khiva started off as predominantly Iranian, but was eventually taken over and replaced by the Turks.
5. The large blue tower in the center of the city was supposed to be a minaret, but the Khan who was building it died, and his successor decided not to finish it. He must not have wanted sloppy architectural seconds, but it remains unfinished to this day. At this point they should just throw a Starbucks in its place and call it a day.
