Just architecture, a big pointy thing. Bukhara.

The complex consists of three parts, the Kalan Minaret, Mosque and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah. by far the most iconic is the Minaret.

The minaret is a masterpiece of design and construction It consists of fourteen different ornamental bands, and was it is said the first structure to use the glazed blue tiles that were to become common place throughout Central Asia

With 10m-deep foundations and has stood for almost 900 years. Genghis Khan was so in awe by it that he ordered it spared while his troops ransacked the rest of the city

Source,

and those pesky bolsheviks couldn't flatten it with their artillery when they laid siege to Bukhara in 1920.

Another tale about Nasrullah Khan. What a wonderful family he spawned from, he succeed his father in 1827, a father who to claim the throne murdered his own brothers, five of them to be precise

What you find in the trees comes out in the branches, as the saying goes
Nasrullah, killed off so many rivals that he became known as “the Butcher”.

His favourite method of execution? The 150ft tall Kalon minaret which was built in the 12th century as watchtower, a beacon for visible to the caravans travelling along the silk route, reputed in ancient times to be the tallest structure in Central Asia .......and final stop for those who had upset "the butcher".

Trudging up its 105 steps, the condemned person would eventually stand hooded and bound, as the sentence was read.

Then in front of the watching crowds a good shove in then back saw the body enter free flight then......

Pause for effect.........

SPLAT!

Next!

Quite a spectacle as executions were held on market days so as many people as possible would witness them.