Lyab-i Hauz ('by the pond'), or Lyab-i Khauz - the name of the area surrounding one of the few remaining hauz (ponds) that have survived in the city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan. Until the Soviet period there were many such ponds, 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 Lyab-i Hauz survived because it is the centrepiece of a magnificent architectural ensemble (in part pictured on this card), created during the 16th and 17th centuries, which has not been significantly changed since.