Continuing east from the Sayid Alauddin Mausoleum, the large Juma Mosque is interesting for the 218 wooden columns supporting its roof – a concept thought to be derived from ancient Arabian mosques. Six or seven of the columns date from the original 10th-century mosque (see if you can spot them), though the present building dates from the 18th century. From inside, you can climb the very dark stairway (clambering rather awkwardly past the young Uzbek couples who use the staircase for trysts) up to the pigeon-poop-splattered gallery of the 47m Juma Minaret .
