Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southern city of Turkestan, is Kazakhstan's most important and beautiful historic monument, a masterpiece of Timurid architecture. Commissioned by Timur in the late fourteenth century over the tomb of a revered Sufi poet and mystic, it was left unfinished at the conqueror's death, its great entrance portal still bare of tiles. Yet its soaring turquoise-ribbed dome, the largest of its kind in Central Asia, and its dazzling glazed tilework make it a place of pilgrimage and awe.

History

Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, born in Ispidjab, modern Sayram, in 1093, led a regional school of Sufism, made Yasi the leading centre of learning in the region and died there in 1166, and his small tomb became a place of pilgrimage. Yasi was largely spared in the Mongol invasion and came under the Timurids in the 1360s, and in 1389 Timur began a much larger mausoleum, bringing mosaic-workers from Shiraz and masons and stucco-workers from Isfahan under the master builder Khwaja Hosein Shirazi; tradition holds that Timur himself took part in the design, and its experimental vaults and domes were later copied elsewhere, but the building was left unfinished at his death in 1405. When the Timurid empire broke up, the Kazakh Khanate made Yasi, renamed Turkestan, its capital in the 16th century, enthroning its khans and receiving envoys there. The mausoleum is one of the best-preserved Timurid buildings and marked the beginning of the Timurid style (Wikipedia, Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi).

Highlights

• The great dome - the vast turquoise-ribbed dome over the tomb.
• The tilework - the dazzling glazed patterns of the facades.
• The unfinished portal - the bare brick entrance, left as it was.
• The old town of Turkestan - the pilgrimage complex around it.

When to go

Spring, April to June, and autumn, September to October, for mild weather, as the southern summers are very hot; it is an important pilgrimage site, so it can be busy with worshippers, especially on religious days. A high-speed rail link and airport now make Turkestan easier to reach.

Before you go

It is in the far south, so reaching it takes a dedicated trip by rail, road or air, and the surrounding new tourist development around Turkestan can feel manufactured. As a living pilgrimage site, it should be visited with respect and modest dress. The mausoleum itself, with its immense dome and glowing tilework, is a genuine masterpiece and Central Asia's Timurid architecture at its finest.

Nearby

The ancient sites of Otrar and the southern steppe are within reach.

Key facts