The city of Turkestan, located in the middle of the arid steppes of the extreme south of Kazakhstan - a real gift of the history of the tourism industry - $ .While neighboring Uzbekistan has a whole bunch of cities of the Great Silk Road with sights of the appropriate scale and splendor, Kazakhstan has stayed away from trade routes and can not particularly boast of settlements with a long history of .Turkestan - happy exception .This city with a 1500-year history today is one of the most important centers of Muslim pilgrimage in Central Asia, and the Tamerlan-built mausoleum of the poet Sufi Khodja Ahmed Yasavi is also the main tourist attraction .

How to get to Turkestan

The largest transport hub, Shymkent, closest to Turkestan is 180 km away. From Alma-Ata or Astana to Shymkent can be reached by plane, then change to a bus or taxi, which will have to travel to Turkestan for about three hours. Also, the large cities of Kazakhstan and Turkestan connects the railway communication - with Astana directly, and when sending from Almaty, a transfer to Shymkent is required.

And in the city itself you can move on municipal buses and shuttles, which quickly scurry through the streets of Turkestan, stopping by the wave of the hand. To get off, you need to warn the driver in advance about the stop - everything is like in Russia. If you do not know the exact address of the place you need, name the nearest attraction.

A bit of history

The city of Iasi (such is the ancient name of Turkestan) was founded around 500 on the crossing of caravan routes from Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva to the north of .In the Middle Ages, it became one of the most fortified cities-fortresses of Central Asia .But the real glory came to Turkestan in the 12th century, when the Sufi poet and philosopher Hodzha Ahmed Yasavi settled here .He preached a special philosophy of Islam and gradually overgrew the students who settled here $ ±.Yasavi's memory was immortalized by the great Tamerlane - at the end of the 14th century, by his decree, a magnificent mausoleum was erected here, and next to it - a mosque .The further position of the city only strengthened - right up to the fact that in the 16-18 centuries it was the capital of the powerful Khazan Khanate, in its turn enriched the city with a mass of revered tombs of Kazakh khans .

Weather forecast

In Turkestan (and generally in the South-Kazakhstan region), a mild desert climate predominates with strong temperature fluctuations throughout the year. In winter it is mainly -5 .. -7 ° C, but sometimes the temperature drops to -15 ° C. In summer, the thermometer keeps firmly at the mark for +30 ° C, often creeping up to +40 ° C. The best time to visit Turkestan is from March to June and from September to November.

Turkestan hotels

In Turkestan, they usually come with an excursion for one day, and even those who visit the city as part of the tour for a few days tend to spend the night in other cities. Nevertheless, there is quite a nice hotel under the promising name "Eden". Accommodation will cost approximately 50-70 EUR per night.

Entertainment, excursions and attractions of Turkestan

Khodzha Ahmed Yasavi Mausoleum is $ ±​​$

The magnificent complex of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi is the main attraction of Turkestan .Built by Timur to the glory of this medieval Sufi poet, he occupies in the plan a huge rectangle measuring 46 by 65 meters .In total, there are 36 rooms here, including the central hall, covered by the largest in the Central Asian brick dome 18 meters in diameter, and the height of the mausoleum in the central part is 44 meters .Inside, it is worth to see a huge ritual water bowl with a diameter of almost 3 meters and weighing two tons, which is made of an alloy of seven metals, and an impressive bronze lamp cast in 1397 - a gift from Tamerlane to the mausoleum .

Other interesting premises of the mausoleum are the Grand Palace with the khan's throne and the scepter, the Small Palace, where the pantheon of the Kazakh khans (43 tombstones), the actual tomb of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi, the Small Mosque - the main place of prayer, as well as the auxiliary extensions - the well and dining room, ancient stoves, a kettle and wooden utensils, from which pilgrims were eating.

Mausoleum of Arystan-baba

Another important Islamic mausoleum in Turkestan is the resting place of St. Arystan-Baba, in some way "predecessor" of Yasawi. The legend says that the Prophet Muhammad himself transferred his rosary to Arystan-Baba, and the latter, in turn, gave them to the young Yasawi. In addition to the shrine of this saint, one can see here an amazing sample of the Koran - it is exposed under glass.

In the historical center of Turkestan, many other Islamic monuments are also located. Here you can see the underground mosque Hilvet (12th c.), The museum "Juma mosque" of the 18th century, the Museum of the Eastern bath and the Museum of the history of the city of Turkestan (here it is interesting to talk about the capture of the city by the Mongols), the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography, the Mausoleum of Rabia Sultan Begim (15 c) and the Museum "Street of the city of Turkestan."

Surroundings of Turkestan

In the vicinity of Turkestan there are also a lot of natural and historical sights, which definitely deserve a one-day "outing". Nature lovers are invited to visit the Otrar oasis (60 km from Turkestan), in the territory of which in 9-12 centuries was located one of the important cities of the Great Silk Road - Otrar. Today, you can see the remains of the ancient settlement - the ruins have remained unimportant, but the scale of the settlement is really amazing.

You can also visit the Karatau nature reserve, located in the central part of the eponymous ridge, where 15 species of animals listed in the Red Book live. The reserve has a variety of tracking routes.