Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa Palace, Bukhara

Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa tickets and entrance fee

Foreign visitors pay about 60,000 UZS — an unofficial figure given by Wikivoyage and by a travel writer who visited in May 2026. A Sputnik8 listing marked “2025” gives around 25,000 UZS. The museum publishes no official price list, so treat the fee as unconfirmed and expect it to sit near the higher number.

You buy the ticket at the gate; there is nothing to book ahead. Bring cash in som. Visa and Mastercard issued abroad work in many Bukhara hotels and bigger restaurants, but small museum desks like this one are often cash-only. Bank ATMs and exchange offices in the old town around Lyabi-Hauz dispense som and change US dollars and euros.

Children under 7 are reportedly free. Some rooms may limit photography or ask for a small camera fee — ask when you buy your ticket. On a guided countryside tour, check whether the entrance is included; it varies by operator.

Opening hours

The palace opens daily, roughly 9:00–18:00, with no weekly closing day, according to Wikivoyage, Sputnik8 and a 2026 trip report. None of these is official, and hours can shift outside the summer season — check the listing in the Yandex Go or Yandex Maps app, or ask your guesthouse, before you set off.

Go early. The gardens are cooler at opening time, and there are fewer groups, especially on weekdays. Much of the visit is outdoors, walking between pavilions, so take water and a hat in summer.

Is Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa worth visiting?

Yes, if you have two or more days in Bukhara. It's the one place in town that shows how the emirs actually lived in the early 20th century: the mirrored White Hall, European furniture against Central Asian ornament, the harem, the pool and the garden. After the dense old town it feels open and calm.

With only one day, skip it. The trip eats half a day, and in that time you can see the Ark, the Kalyan Minaret and Lyabi-Hauz on foot. The museum itself is compact: if interiors and textiles aren't your thing, an hour is plenty.

What to see at the Emir's Summer Palace

• The White Hall — the showpiece of the main building, with carved ganch plaster laid over mirrored walls. The work was led by master Shirin Muradov, who has a monument in the grounds.
• The state rooms of the main building: European furniture, chandeliers, Venetian mirrors and Chinese and Japanese porcelain.
• The summer tea room, decorated with geometric patterns and coloured glass rather than the floral motifs of the other rooms.
• The guest pavilion with a display of a Bukharan townsman's clothes — gold-embroidered robes, belts, scarves and shoes.
• The former harem, now housing suzani and regional embroidery from across Uzbekistan.
• The pool behind the harem and the pavilion mirrored in it — the classic photo on a still day.
• The garden with roses and peacocks, some free-roaming, some in aviaries.

A short history

Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa was the summer country residence of the emirs of Bukhara. Its first buildings went up in the 19th century and have not survived. The palace you see now was built in 1912–1918 for the last emir, Alim Khan. Bukharan craftsmen were sent to Russia to study country palaces, and two Russian engineers at court, Margulis and Sakovich, worked on the project.

The result is a hybrid: European façades and furniture, but a Bukharan layout with separate men's and women's quarters and local decoration inside. Legend says the site of the first residence was chosen by hanging sheep carcasses around the oasis and building where the meat stayed fresh longest — proof of the healthiest air.

After the emirate fell, the palace opened as a museum in 1927. From 1954 part of the complex served as a rest house and the museum was cut to nine halls. Today it is the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts, with 19th–20th-century furniture, porcelain, jewellery and gold embroidery.

Summer Palace vs the Ark

The Ark belongs in any Bukhara day. The Summer Palace is for day two, once the old town is done. Prices are unofficial.

How to do it right

• Come at opening time or on a weekday: the garden is cooler and there are fewer groups.
• The best photo is the pavilion reflected in the pool behind the harem on a windless day.
• Peacock feed is reportedly sold at the entrance — children often like it more than the halls.
• Carry small som notes for the ticket and any camera fee.
• On the way back, stop at Chor Minor, on the north side of the old town.
• Got a second day? Book one taxi for the palace, the Bahauddin Naqshband complex and Chor-Bakr.

Questions