Category Archive: Art & Culture

Old Madrassah

Opposite to the entrance to the Gissar Fortress, there is the Kukhna madrasah (Old madrasah), built in the XVII century and extent up to date. The Kukhna madrasah prepared scholars-theologians and clergy representatives. They learned the Koran, Arab language, khadises (Prophet’s sayings), kalam, Sheriat, and history of Islam. By Central Asian standards the Kukhna madrasah was rather large because it taught up to 150 pupils.

Inside the Museum

Apart from the building itself, a rather large library which nowadays is a museum in some way is also preserved in the Kukhna madrasah. The library’s major part is devoted to the religious subject. Not far from the Old madrasah’s building there is the Nav Madrasah (New madrasah) with the two-storeyed façade only survived up to date. The new madrasah was built in the XVIII-XIX centuries, but in the course of the civil war, it was almost completely destroyed.