10/14: Turkistan, Kazakhstan's Yasui Mausoleum Complex

From the southern Kazakhstan city of Shymkent we took a marshrutka or shared van over a hundred miles northwest to Turkistan, the site of the country's greatest architectural monument and most important pilgrimage site. Even though we had to pay for a seat for our two bags, the price was still only 3,000 tengue or $7.50 for all 'three' of us! This will be me in a few years' time!

After staying in so many small hotels recently, we felt like we had a room at The Ritz when we were handed a key card at our new hotel instead of an actual key and there were two whole floors and a hotel restaurant!

Since the weather was lousy, we hoped to visit the Turkistan Museum of Ethnography next door but it was closed so we planned to stop by later another time. 

We were surprised to see several yurts nearby but they, too, were empty. They looked more decorative than where people lived.

Behind the 16th to 19th century Town Citadel was the main reason we'd come to Turkistan, the Yasui Mausoleum. I had read that Kazakhstan largely lacked the kinds of Central Asian historical towns that make Uzbekistan a popular travel destination, but the exception was the relatively well preserved, 1600-year-old city of Turkistan. In the 11th century AD, the great Islamic Sufi Sheikh Khoja Ahmad Yasaui turned the city into the region's principal center of learning, drawing scholars from across the steppe. 

In the late 14th century, Timur, a Turco-Mongol conqueror and founder of the Timurid empire in Persia and Central Asia, commissioned the creation of a massive mausoleum in Yasui's honor. It's Kazakhstan's most prominent historical attraction, a major Muslim pilgrimage site, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The turquoise geometric tile work on the sides of the Mausoleum was very attractive. 

Considered to be an outstanding example of Timurid design that contributed to the development of Islamic religious architecture, the Mausoleum was constructed of fired brick and contained thirty-five rooms that accommodated many functions. The Mausoleum was closely associated with the branch of Islam in the area known as Sufi and with Timur's political ideology.

Immediately inside the mausoleum was a two-ton cauldron called a tayqazan which was cast, it said, in 1399 BC. There were three inscriptions on it including the name of the ruler who ordered its production and the date of its manufacture. Its volume was a staggering 3,000 liters!

Very pretty hexagonal green tiles covered the walls about four feet up all around the large space. 

These were listed as being the original entrance doors from the 14th century. 

These hum or vessels were used to store grain in the 6th and 7th centuries.

The private library belonged to some important person but I didn't know who!

Unlike any of the many mausoleums we'd just seen throughout Uzbekistan, this one had many corridors off the main room. Each of the corridors had small rooms like a cell, library or contained artifacts. This displayed a 19th century Koran.

One corridor had several graves. 

These 16th and 17th century coins were discovered during an archaeological excavation in Turkistan in 2002.

A sign in the Well Room indicated this was a 14th century U-shaped Khapsyrma door and had several inscriptions. 

These young boys were so cute and followed us from room to room for a while. They wanted to take my picture - perhaps because of my red hair which is so uncommon in this part of the world? They appeared delighted when I took their photo.

I don't know whether it was the mausoleum itself, the cold and nasty weather or whether we had just seen so much outstanding Timurid architecture throughout Uzbekistan the last three weeks, but the Yasui Mausoleum left me more than a little blah. 

Seeing people enjoying a camel ride on a short circuit did bolster my flagging spirits, though.

I wondered who the leader of the camel caravan was supposed to represent - perhaps just someone on the famed Silk Road?

In the grounds of the Mausoleum was the Juma or Friday Mosque which was where we headed next. The mosque was open from the 12th through the 19th centuries. Just outside it was a small museum.

The octagonal-shaped column with a rounded base was taken from the Mausoleum in 1954.

Just steps away was the Hilvet Semi-Underground Mosque.

This mosque, far more than the Mausoleum itself, was the religious center of the complex. It was where Yasui was said to have withdrawn toward the end of his life. 

We saw models of underground mosques but I can't remember if we saw one of the Juma Mosque in Khiva, Uzbekistan, that we'd been so impressed by recently.

This girl came up to us with her family and asked us in perfect colloquial English why we had come to Kazakhstan, did many Americans know of her country, etc. She wondered if we were being paid to visit her homeland! She explained she was a visitor from another region of Kazakhstan and was so excited to be there at Yasui Mausoleum as she hadn't known beforehand that her country had such a beautiful and historic site! 

I told her her English teacher should be so proud of her command of the language. She asked if I would be willing to record a message to that effect to her teacher on her phone. Of course, I said I'd be delighted. Her parents just beamed as they were so proud of her. 

The 15th century Eastern Bathhouse, which had hot and cold water, was made for pilgrims so they could wash and do ablutions before their pilgrimage to the Mausoleum. 

There were a couple of men there who, for a fee, would allow people to hold exotic animals. I felt sorry for this boy as he looked so nervous and uncomfortable and yet his family was pushing him to hold the peacock.

Oh yes - photos of the bathhouse!

19th century copper wash basins:

Also from the 19th century was this samovar.

The 15th century Rabia Sultan Begim Mausoleum with its lovely turquoise roof was unfortunately closed. 

I think Steven was happy about that, don't you think?! My poor guy just hates the cold.

On our way out, we passed the ruins of what had been an octagonal mausoleum from the 16th century. 

What a nasty day it was weather wise to begin a new life together.

We walked the citadel walls for a few minutes.

From there we had lovely views looking back toward the two mausoleums.

The ribbed or fluted dome was certainly as spectacular as any we'd just seen in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Also in the grounds of the Yasui Mausoleum was the Turkistan History Museum which we went to for a few minutes. It focused  on Yasui, Islamic learning and local archaeological finds. 

A 6th century tomb statue:

A 12th century lamp:

A painting celebrating Timur, the greatest warlord and founder of the Timurid empire:

After warming up and relaxing in our room, we went out searching for a restaurant. That proved to be quite difficult, unfortunately, but the colorful designs we saw on the streets were interesting at least.

Next post: Exploring Sauran, the ruins of what had been the largest city in Kazakhstan during the 13th to the 16th centuries.

Posted on Veterans' Day, November 11th, 2018, from Segovia, Spain.