Lyab-i Hauz

Lab-i Hauz (Uzbek: Labihovuz, Tajik: Лаби Ҳавз, romanized: Labi Havz, Persian: لب حوض, romanized: Lab-e Howz, meaning in Persian "by the pool"), sometimes also known as Lyab-i Khauz, a Russian approximation, is the name of the area surrounding one of the few remaining hauz pools that have survived in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Until the Soviet period, there were many such pools, which were the city's principal source of water, but they were notorious for spreading disease and were mostly filled in during the 1920s and 1930s.

The Lab-i Hauz survived because it is the centerpiece of a magnificent architectural ensemble, created during the 16th and 17th centuries, which has not been significantly changed since. The Lab-i Hauz ensemble, surrounding the pool on three sides, consists of the Kukeldash Madrasah (1568–1569, the largest madrasa in the city), on the north side of the pool, and two religious edifices built by Nadir Divan-Beghi: a khanqah (1620; Uzbek: xonaqah, meaning a lodging house for itinerant Sufis) and a madrasa (1622), which stand on the west and east sides of the pool respectively. The small Qāzī-e Kalān Nasreddīn madrasa (now demolished) was formerly located beside the Kukeldash madrasah.^[1]