Akmeshit Cave

Akmeshit, the white mosque, is a large karst chamber in the Karatau hills whose roof has partly collapsed, leaving an opening through which daylight falls into a space some sixty metres across and thirty deep. Steps lead down from the hole to a floor of rubble and earth where mulberry trees grow, watered and lit by the shaft, which is the image the site is known for: a grove growing underground. It is treated as a sacred place, with a shrine at the entrance and local belief attaching healing properties to the cave; pilgrims come and some spend the night. Bats roost in the darker sections. The access track from Shayan is rough.

The landscape

• The light shaft - daylight falling through the collapsed roof.
• The mulberry grove - the trees growing on the cavern floor.
• The descent steps - the stairway from the opening to the bottom.
• The shrine - the sacred site at the cave entrance.

When to go

April to June and September to October for the best light and weather; the region is very hot in midsummer. Midday gives the strongest shaft of light into the chamber. Fridays bring pilgrims.

Good to know

The steps down are steep and the floor uneven and slippery. It is a sacred site and visitors are expected to behave accordingly. The track from Shayan needs high clearance. Facilities are nonexistent.

Nearby

Shayan village is the access point; Turkestan lies northwest.