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Sardoba Malik
One of the valuable monuments of Uzbekistan is Sardoba Malik near Navoi - a giant water storage.
Right beside the road, in the desert Malik the portal of the XII century, that once led to Rabat-i-Malik "the king's castle" ("Rabat" - castle, fortress) can still be seen.
Sardoba Malik served as the source of water for this area.
As it is translated from Farsi "sard" means “cold”, "oba" means “water”. It turns Sardoba – “cold water”
Sardoba Malik near Navoi - recessed into the ground brick cistern overlapped with a stepped dome. Sardoba is filled with water from the Zarafshan river along the underground channel called “kyariz”. The downhill (ramp) leads to water from the portal.
History of Sardoba Malik in Navoi
Sardoba Malik was built in the 13th century. The depth of the reservoir reaches 13 meters. Sardoba is covered with a dome, the diameter of which is 12 meters. At the bottom you can see three light windows.
A man needed much wisdom to work out surprisingly reasonable structure, built of brick and two-thirds of depth in the ground. Thus, only the dome stands on a surface.
The clay for bricks for Sardoba Malik in Navoi was mined in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya. People from ancient times knew and appreciated its heat-resistant, waterproof and thermal insulation properties. This clay-gel was kneaded in a special way, with the addition of camel's hair. Molded bricks for the year "roasted" in the sun. And if it did not crack and did not change the form, it was sent to the fire. After firing, the brick was again strictly selected by the sound, shape and other qualities. The clay mortar was kneaded on the water with the addition of sheep's milk and camel’s hair. As a result the wall of Sardoba Malik was not only durable, but also completely eliminated the filtration of water, keeping it clean, clear and cold. At the bottom of Sardoba Malik workers circularly stacked bricks mixed with gunch mixed. The next layer was from coal of burnt saxaul. Our ancestors, the architects were well aware that underground water was salty, and coal served as a good carbon filter to purify water from salt.
On the top of the coal layer there was one more layer from camel hair, and then uniformly dimmed cattle hides. Only after this the wall was surfaced with a mixture of gunch and the brick laying was started. During the winter and spring Sardoba Malik collected more than 20 thousand cubic meters of water.
According to historical facts, it is known that there were 44 sardobas in Transoxania (Mawarannahr). One of them is located in Navoi oasis. On the Great Silk Road, which run through the Rabat-i-Malik in the amazing city of Karman, Sardoba Malik offered a traveler to drink water from the unique water reservoir near the city in which great masters lived. They were able to store water in such places where one could not dream about it.
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