Taraz

Taraz stands on the Talas river and is generally counted among the oldest continuously occupied places in Kazakhstan, mentioned in Chinese and Arab sources from the early centuries of the first millennium and known as Talas; the battle of Talas in 751 between Tang and Abbasid forces was fought in this region. The medieval city lay under what became the central bazaar, and excavations from the 2010s exposed streets, houses and a bathhouse, now displayed as an archaeological park in the middle of the modern town, a rare case of a Silk Road city dug out from beneath a working market. The Karakhan and Dautbek mausoleums stand in the city, and the regional museum holds the finds.

History

Taraz celebrated its official 2,000th anniversary in 2001, dating from a fortress built in the area by the Xiongnu chanyu Zhizhi, and the city was first recorded as Talas in 568 by Menander Protector. It took its present form after it passed to the Russian Empire from 1864, and the Semirechensky railway reached it in 1917 (Wikipedia, Taraz).

Highlights

• The ancient Taraz park - the excavated medieval streets in the city centre.
• Karakhan mausoleum - the rebuilt tomb of a Karakhanid ruler.
• The regional museum - the finds from the excavations and the region.
• The bazaar - the working market beside the archaeological site.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer is very hot and winter cold. Nauryz in March is celebrated in the parks. Weekday mornings suit the bazaar and the museum.

Things to know

The excavated area is fragmentary and the interpretation limited. Karakhan mausoleum is a twentieth-century rebuilding of the medieval original. The modern city is industrial and unremarkable. Aisha-Bibi and Akyrtas need separate trips out of town.

Nearby

Aisha-Bibi lies west; Akyrtas is east toward Almaty.

Key facts