Said Otaliq Madrasa

This madrasa on Mustaqillik street in Denov follows the plan of the great Bukhara madrasas such as Kukeldash, and nothing else like it exists in the region. Its date is disputed: the official heritage list gives the sixteenth century and links it to descendants of the Naqshbandi sheikh Alouddin Attor, who died in Denov in 1400, while other sources say it was built in the nineteenth century by the Bukhara master Ahmad Mamat under the patronage of Said Otaliq, father-in-law of Emir Haydar and governor of Denov.

Before the 1920 revolution about 400 students studied here. Today the building is in poor condition and parts of it are at risk of collapse, so look at it from outside.

• A Bukhara-style madrasa unique in Surkhandarya
• Linked to the Naqshbandi sheikh Alouddin Attor
• In the centre of Denov