Turkistan - Turkistan

Turkistan is a city of Kazakh desert.

To know

Why is Ahmad Yasavi so important?

Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi was a Turkish poet and mystic born in Sayram in 1106 (associated with a local legend, see the entry). With his works he exercised an important cultural influence in numerous successive poets and in the countries of Central Asia, but above all among the sufi having created a brotherhood. For this reason Tamerlane had a mausoleum built.

Kazakhstan is lacking in historical cities typical of Central Asia which instead make theUzbekistan a popular tourist destination, but the exception is this, a relatively well-preserved 1600-year-old city.

Although historically part of the Kazakh khanate, Turkestan is mainly populated by ethnic Uzbeks. Turkestan is also one of the few places in Central Asia where there is a minority community of Uzbeks claiming Arab descent, presumably from Yasavi himself. Ask the locals, they will know and will be more than happy to discuss it, but only if you can speak the Kazakh because it is the prevailing language here. Very few know theEnglish except a few young people.

Background

In the 11th century, the great Sufi sheikh Khoja Ahmad Yasavi transformed the city into the region's premier center of learning, drawing scholars from across the steppe. At the end of the 14th century, Tamerlane commissioned the creation of a huge mausoleum in his honor, which is Kazakhstan's most important historical attraction to this day, a major Muslim pilgrimage site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Due to the great devotion to Khoja Ahmad Yasavi among Turkish Muslims and Soviet-era restrictions on international travel, Soviet Muslims have long considered the city "the second Mecca of the East," and believed that a visit to Yasavi's mausoleum was the same as going to theHajj of theMecca.

The city is currently in full transformation, the streets and areas near the mausoleum are subject to major works that in a few years (Sep 2019) will make the city unrecognizable.

How to orient yourself

The city concentrates all its monuments in the center at the Mausoleum, where the ancient city was present and which today is an immense construction site for the arrangement of the square and excavations. The area is called Hazrat-e Turkestan.

How to get

By plane

• 42.36569.4761111 Şımkent Airport (Kazakh: Халықаралық Шымкент Әуежайы, Russian: Международный Аэропорт Шымкент, IATA: CIT) (Accessible by frequent minibuses (approximately $ 2), trains or taxis.). This small airport mainly operates internal flights in the country. Given the scarce presence of passengers, checks are also very quick. There is a Wifi service that can be activated via SMS.  

On the train

• 43.28591568.2131672 Turkistan Station (станция Туркестан). There are also train connections available from Almaty (from 14 to 20 hours depending on the train) and from the Uzbek capital of Tashkent (Eight hours). The border crossing on the latter line takes place around midnight, and speaking one of the local languages ​​or Russian will certainly help communicate with officials. But also Shymkent in 3 and a half hours, Nur-Sultan (About 24 hours), Moscow in about 2 days of travel.

Marshrutkys 2 and 10 connect Sultanbek Kozhanov and the bus station. 

By bus

• 43.30340268.2482213 Avtovokzal Altyn Orda (Автовокзал Алтын Орда), Tauke Khan Ave. More comfortable buses leave for this bus station Shymkent, Bishkek, Almaty is Taraz. 
• 43.30310568.2501014 Avtovokzal Merey (Автовокзал Мерей). From here there are also races for Taraz is Almaty. 
• 43.30201968.2473235 Main avtovokzal. From here buses leave for Kyzylorda. 

• 43.2668.366 Avtovokzal Turkistan (Туркістан автовокзалві) (about 7 km from the center. To reach it, take the marshrutka with the indication Туркістан автовокзалві 50 tenge from 43.298768.2771 stop near Hazrat-e Turkestan, do not be fooled by the position of the stop in the opposite direction because they are placed in two different points). The new bus station in the city. From Shymkent the trip takes about 2 hours and can be done by minivan or marshrutka. The cost to Turkestan is 800 tenge to / from Shymkent in a 20 passenger minivan (April 2019). The cartel of marshrutkas headed to Shymkent creates a kind of monopoly with the higher cost from Turkestan than the other way around. Even locals seem to pay 1,000 tenge (Sep 2019). Taxi drivers are ridiculous and may initially try to charge you 10,000 tenge. Just tease him with a "nyet" and tell him how much you paid to get there; they will fold quickly. You arrive at Samal station but you can also get off at Bekzhan, where most long-distance buses leave from. There aren't many buses that go further east from Shymkent, so you may need to change and take another one. 

How to get around

By public transport

Public transport in Turkestan is by minibus or taxi. Minibuses 1 or 1A go from the Mausoleum to the bus station in Merei and Turkistan. The cost is 40 tenge (September 2017). A list of buses and routes (in Russian) are available from the official site of the municipality.

By taxi

Yandex Taxi is not active in this city. Many taxi drivers are found in bus stations.

What see

Azret-Sultan

The complex of monuments whose most important is the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum

• 43.29764468.2710421 Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum (Мавзолей Ходжи Ахмеда Ясави), ☎ 7 705 486 4415. 500 tenge. Mon-Sun 9: 00-18: 00. Commissioned in 1389 for the 12th century Sufi poet and mystic Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, but never finished. The architectural style is timurid and recalls the style of the mausoleums ofUzbekistan like those of Samarkand and other cities. This mausoleum is however a major destination for pilgrimages from all over Central Asia and has ended up embodying the Kazakh national identity. The internal rooms are rather bare compared to the external magnificence, however there is a large cauldron, the ancient decorated wooden doors and the tomb of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi placed in an inaccessible room. To the side, the faithful come to pray and stop. Since this is a religious place, men shouldn't wear shorts and cover their backs. Scarves are delivered free of charge at the entrance to the mausoleum. Always respect the faithful in prayer by avoiding speaking aloud.  

• 43.29693668.2719752 Mausoleum of Rabia Sultan Begim (Next to the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum). Mon-Sun 9: 00-24: 00. This building was rebuilt in 1898, so the visible one is a copy of the older one. It is dedicated to Rabia Sultan Begim, great grandson of Tamerlane and wife of an Uzbek ruler of the 1400s.  

• 43.29335368.2707843 Old city of Turkistan. Inside the complex, the excavations relating to the ancient city of Turkistan are visible. However, there are no captions to understand the structures that emerged. A freely accessible covered pavilion was recently built where the foundations of old buildings can be seen. Extensive excavation and refurbishment campaigns are underway, making the whole area a huge dusty construction site. 
• 43.29615868.2721834 Ancient baths. Free. Turkish baths in which the rooms and tools used for the bathroom are exhibited. 

• 43.29833468.2729665 Walls of Hazrat-e Turkestan. They were the ancient walls that surrounded the city and the mausoleum since ancient times. Today there are portions of it with entrances which give a good idea of ​​how the original city must have been in the past. 

• 43.29606868.2710326 Hilvet Mosque (Подземная мечеть). Mon-Sun 9: 00-18: 00. This semi-underground mosque is located on a rise in the complex next to the Friday mosque. It was built between the 12th and 15th centuries and should be where Kozha Akhmed Yasaui is believed to have retired in the last years of his life. In addition to the excavations of the ancient building, there is a sort of well where the Muslim saint is thought to have lived. 

Other monuments

• 43.29255368.2738677 Khudzha Akhmad Yassavi Mosque (Maszhid Khudzha Akhmad Yassavi) (Next to the archaeological excavations of Azret-Sultan). A very modern mosque with large internal windows and two minarets. The dome recalls those of the Timurid style. 
• Mausoleum of Esimhan. 17th century mausoleum  

Museums

• 43.29898168.2739448 Turkistan Museum (History Museum). free. Mon-Sun 9: 00-18: 00. This museum is mainly dedicated to the mausoleum complex and the life of Kozha Akhmed Yasaui, Sufism and Islamic knowledge but also the ancient past of the site. The presence of English in the captions is scarce, only Russian and Kazakh. 
• 43.29885668.275339 The Sultan Museum of Arts and Culture. Mon-Fri 9: 00-18: 00. 
• 43.29956468.27580210 ^{[link not working]}Historical, cultural and ethnographic center, Tauke Khan (Near the mausoleum). 500T, including English-speaking guide (December 2015). 9:00-19:00. Inaugurated in 2011, three floors of popular, regional and national culture and history. The captions are in Kazakh but there is the possibility of guided tours in English. 

Events and parties

What to do

The area around the Yasavi Mausoleum has a number of historic buildings and a large mosque. It is a nice park for walking not only for the monuments. There isn't a huge amount to do in Turkestan outside the center.

Shopping

• 43.29988768.244581 Kuanysh Bazar (Куаныш базары) (on the way to Merey Avtovokzal from the Mausoleum), ☎ 7 776 300 5156. Tue-Sun 05: 00-20: 00. The kurt local (hard, salty balls of dried sour cream that look a bit like Parmesan) is very good; there are many villages just outside the city where this is done. Otherwise, the usual market rate is offered; fresh fruits and vegetables, hot snacks such as samsa, dairy, electronics, etc. 

How to have fun

Where to eat

Average prices

• Edem Hotel, 6 Sultanbek Kozhanov (At the hotel). Laghman noodles 450T, 250T 0.5 liter beer.. Mon-Sun 9: 00-23: 00. Good menu (in Russian) of starters, salads, mains and desserts. Wifi. The staff are helpful but not many speak English. 

Where stay

There are a number of relatively elegant hotels between the Mausoleum and Merey Avtovokzal. Alternatively, ask around.

Average prices

• 43.30100368.2764781 ^{[link not working]}Edem Hotel, 6 Sultanbek Kozhanov, ☎ 7 747 587 0693. Large clean hotel near Yasui Mausoleum with 5,000 tenge en-suite rooms including breakfast (prices have increased since September 2017, starting at 7,000 tenge). Restaurant and bar on site. Wifi. The staff are helpful but not many speak English. 
• 43.29993668.2748712 Khanaka Hotel (Гостиница Ханака), 3a Bayburt (The Hotel is located in the city center, near the Historical-Ethnographic Museum), ☎ 7 778 715 9159. standard room 18,000 tenge (1 and 2 places), deluxe 40,000 (1 and 2 places). The windows overlook the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum. Close to the hotel, there is the city's main highway and a variety of road interchanges. The hotel has a restaurant, bar, fitness, spa and conference room. The hotel rooms are of two types, standard and deluxe. 

Safety

The city is very quiet and sleepy. The biggest problem is communication with the locals because they only speak Kazakh and not Russian. English is not very common except for a few words from a few young people who can give you some indications.

How to keep in touch

Internet

Some Western-style cafes offer Wi-Fi, but not many. Or ask at any major hotel and offer 100 tenge for one hour of sailing.

• Internet point, Sultanbek Kozhanov (in front of the Edem Hotel, the sign displays a vertical red sign with Internet in Cyrillic). 150T per hour. Opens at 10:00 in the morning. Five desktop computer stations with webcam. Print available. 

Around

• 43.51527867.7686117 Sauran (Сауран ескі қаласы) (about 70 km north-west of Turkestan and 13 km from the town of the same name. There are Marshrutkas departing from the main Avtovokzal, near Merey. Be careful because you may have problems returning to the city in the late afternoon, risking having to hitchhike or look for a taxi. A taxi to wait and take you back to Turkestan should cost between 4,000 and 5,000 tenge (July 2017).), ☎ 7 705 486 4415. These are perhaps the most beautiful ruins of an ancient city in Kazakhstan along the Silk Road and a short distance from the Syr-Darya River (the Oxus). The city walls are still high and in some places it is still possible to walk on them. The first mention of Sauran dates back to the 10th century, it also became the capital of the Mongolian White Horde and, later, a military fortress under Tamerlane. In the 16th century, two tall minarets and a system of aqueducts were described.

To visit as a day trip, in order not to confuse it with the nearby city it is always better to specify by saying Krepost Sauran (Sauran fortress).  

• 42.85148368.302978 Otrar (70 km south of the city. There are Marshrutkas departing from the main Avtovokzal, near Merey (ask about the Talapty village, as it is closer to the main ruins). Be careful because you may have problems returning to the city in the late afternoon, risking having to hitchhike or look for a taxi.). This archaeological site is also a fortified city of which the oldest part dates back to the 1st century AD. and the most modern to the sixteenth century. The particularity of the site and the historical interest have made it included in the Unesco Tentative List.  

• 42.85168.2689 Arystan Bab Mausoleum (Арыстан баб кесенесі) (A few kilometers from the archaeological site of Otrar), ☎ 7 747 532 6765. This 14th century mausoleum was erected in honor of Arystan Bab who, according to legend, lived for 400 years. He was a mystic who met Khodja Akhmed Yassaui (to whom the famous Turkistan mausoleum is dedicated) at the city of Sayram. Here is set the legend that the mystic met a young Khodja Akhmed Yassaui and left him some Sufi teachings. A living legend has blossomed around this meeting. Similarly there is the legend of the construction of this mausoleum, erected by Tamerlane because in a dream he was told that the constructive difficulties found in erecting the Khodja Akhmed Yassaui mausoleum would be resolved only after having erected a mausoleum in honor of Arystan Bab. The mausoleum is as much a pilgrimage site as the Turkistan mausoleum.  
• Shymkent - the largest city in the surrounding area and with an airport. A reference in the region, more than a place to visit.

Useful information

• 43.297768.27575410 Tourist information office, ☎ 7 72533 3 33 88. Mon-Fri 9: 00-18: 00. As of September 2019, the office was closed for what was present. 
• Local guide (Ismail), 7 8777-095-38-45, @[email protected]. Offers tours (in English) of Turkestan and the local area. 

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Turkistan
• Commons contains images or other files on Turkistan

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