ABSTRACT
Tall blank walls with high small windows and winding pedestrian-orientated alleys dominate the urban landscape of the Murad Khani district in the old city of Kabul. The upper storeys of houses jut out over the streets; on some of the narrower streets, they cover the street entirely. Behind heavy-set carved wooden doors, gardens flourish in private courtyards. The stout blue and turquoise minaret of the Abu’l Fazl shrine stands at the centre of the bazaar street, surrounded by jewellery shops, fortune-tellers and beggars. With its traditional earth architecture, historic bazaar, and labyrinth of alleys and places of worship, the urban fabric of Murad Khani is laden with meaning infused with different dimensions of religiosity.
