Kyzyl-Kala | |
  Kyzyl-Kala fortress, 1st-4th century AD: original ruins, and reconstruction (left third portion simulated) | |
  Kyzyl-Kala Shown within West and Central Asia  Kyzyl-Kala Kyzyl-Kala (Uzbekistan) | |
| Alternative name | Kyzyl-Kala |
|---|---|
| Location | Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan |
| Coordinates | 41°55′48.1″N60°47′02.8″E / 41.930028°N 60.784111°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Periods | Parthian, Sasanian |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
Kyzyl-Kala, also Qyzyl Qala ("Red fortress"), in modern Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, was an ancient fortress in Chorasmia built in the 1st-4th century CE. [1] [2] The small fortress of Kyzyl-Kala is located near Toprak-Kala, about 1 km to the west, and was also built in the 1st-4th century CE, possibly as a fortified defense for the site of Toprak-Kala. Kyzyl-Kala was once restored in the 12th century. It has also been the subject of a modern renovation program, with the objective of showing what a fortress looked like originally. It is part of the "Fifty fortresses oasis" in modern-day Uzbekistan. [3] It was last occupied by Muhammad II of Khwarazm (1169, 1200-20), ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire, before it fell to the Mongol conquest of Khwarazmia.
Kyzyl-Kala under restoration (2018)
Old and new walls
Kyzyk-Kala, details of new walls
Location of the Kyzyl-Kala fortress, next to Toprak-Kala in the Chorasmian oasis, in relation to other main fortresses
Cotton picking near Kyzyl-Kala.
Mina'i bowl depiction of a fortress under siege, circa 1200, Iran
