A Voyage into the Heart of Eurasia
Despite having its own unique cultural and historical heritage, Kazakhstan still remains a terra incognita to foreign tourists - an unknown and mysterious land. Unfortunately, our country is often identified abroad only by its huge reserves of mineral resources. We would like to tell you about the other Kazakhstan - a land still to be discovered by foreign travellers.
Kazakhstan is a land where civilizations have risen and fallen for thousands of years. Sites of ancient people from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages can be found there, as well as burials from the Bronze Age, and dozens of ruined medieval cities, castles, and cultic buildings. Many of the 27,000 ancient monuments peppered over the whole area of this steppe state still await research. There are, for instance, concentrations of petroglyphs, or rock drawings, revealing the diversity of the art traditions of the ancients. Petroglyphs can be found everywhere—in steppes and gorges, on cone-shaped hills and headstones. In addition to the larger concentrations, amounting to thousands of rock drawings, there are also small groups consisting of some hundreds or just a few tens of drawings.
At the end of the 1950s, a unique sanctuary, hailed today as one of the finest displays of ancient rock painting, was found in the Tamgaly area of the Semirechye region. The plots of the petroglyphs cover whole phases of Kazakhstan's history. Over 4,000 drawings, dating back to the Bronze Age, the times of the early nomads, and the Turkic period, have been found there. Sun-head gods, multi-figured compositions of people and animals, ritual sacrifices, scenes of hunting and fighting and dances were painted in this "outdoor" gallery. Prayerful inscriptions, images of tamga, disks and chariots occur among the petroglyphs. The Tamgaly area (in Kazakh "tamgaly" means "marked by a patrimonial sign", or tamga) is protected by UNESCO and can fairly be claimed as a world treasure of art.
World-wide fame has been accorded to the "Golden Man" found in a dig at a burial mound near the town of Issyk (Almaty region) in 1969. This burial ground dates back to the 4th century B.C. and is considered to be the most outstanding archeological monument from the Scythian and Saka periods in Kazakhstan. The remains of an illustrious Saka warrior were found there. His costume consisted of 4,000 gold plates arranged in the so-called "animal style". The warrior's head was crowned with a high pointed helmet decorated with images of winged steeds symbolizing the Sun God. The Saka was armed with a long sword and a short dagger. A silver bowl found in the shrine contains an inscription of 26 symbols at the bottom, the meaning of which still remains unsolved. There were also pottery, wooden trays, and jugs made of silver and bronze.
A reconstructed costume of the "Golden Man" can be seen today in the Museum of Gold in Almaty.
The Bes-Shatyr ("Five Tents") necropolis, .another monument of the Sakian age, is also located in the Semirechye, on the upper reaches of the Hi River. There are 18 royal mounds 8-70 m in diameter and 2-20 m high within an area of 2 sq. km in this place. Under the mounds, shrines of a complex design were built from Tien Shan fir-trees. To the west of the shrines, a chain of 45 rock walls stretches from north to south. Scientists believe that this chain of walls has a ritual nature and is an essential part of the necropolis. An unusual chronicle, carved on the rock, contains drawings of animals, also scenes of hunting and the everyday life of the ancients.
The ancient cities and architectural monuments of Kazakhstan lying along the Great Silk Road are not only places of pilgrimage for faithful Moslems from many countries, but also tourist sites visited mostly by foreign travellers. The Great Silk Road is one of the most significant achievements in the history of world civilization. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, extensive networks of caravan tracks crossed Europe and Asia from the Mediterranean to China and were the essential means of trade and dialogue between the cultures of West and East. The longest part of the road passed through Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Only ruins are left of the numerous cities settled in the "steppe" section of the Great Silk Road. And only isolated architectural monuments to this age have remained to the present day. Some of these are located near the modern city of Taraz.
The first record of this ancient city dates back to 568 A.D. However, it reached its peak in the 1O'h-12In centuries, as the capital of the Karakhanids state. The Karakhan mausoleum was built over the grave of one of their dynastic rulers of this period. It is a brick building of dome and portal design, inside which there is a surviving stepped gravestone. Sha Mansur, a second small mausoleum, was erected over the burial site of a governor appointed by the Mongolian chagans. The inscription remaining on the flagstone inside the mausoleum testifies that he was killed in 1262.
The most interesting for researchers and tourists are two monuments situated at a distance of 18 km from Taraz and included by UNESCO in its list of world architectural treasures. The first of these — the Babaji-Khatun mausoleum — was built in the 11th century and has a hipped cupola roof of a very rare design. The second one — the Aisha-Bibi mausoleum — dates back to the 12th century. It is fully decorated with carved terracotta, whose richest ornaments are represented by plates with various patterns, as well as benches, tiles, and fancy inscriptions. The capitals and columns of terracotta blocks, together with the whole wall, are covered with extremely fine drawings, which represent a very rich collection of eastern ornamentation.
In October 2000, under the aegis of the UNESCO, another city in South Kazakhstan — Turkestan — celebrated 1,500 years since its birth. The history of this city (known as "Yassy" until the 16th century) is inseparably associated with the developing ethnic and cultural contacts within Central Asia, the processes of Islamization among the Turkic peoples, and its settlement as the first capital of the Kazakh khanate. Turkestan has international importance as an architectural monument and is now a place of pilgrimage for tourists from all over the world. They come to view a matchless masterpiece of medieval architecture — the Khoja Akhmed Yassawi Mausoleum.
This outstanding Sufi master, philosopher and poet lived and worked in the 12lh century. The small mausoleum, where he was buried in 1167, later became an object of mass pilgrimage and worship for Moslems. Three visit there equated to a hadj to Mecca. The present-day Mausoleum was erected on the orders of Emir Timur over the grave of the great Sufi master 233 years after his death. It represents a huge longitudinal building of portal and cupola design. In the central hall (kazanlik) of the mausoleum, there is an enormous cauldron (kazan) that forms a symbol representing unity and hospitality. The kazan is made from a seven-metal alloy, its diameter is 2.45 m and its weight 2 tones. The kazanlyk is overarched by the largest brick cupola extant in Central Asia, 18.2 m in diameter. The walls of the mausoleum are made of burnt bricks, the manufacturing technology of which reached perfection here. The veneer of the north doorway and the shrine door, which is also carved and has delicate bone inlay work, are distinguished by their magnificent beauty.
Besides the mausoleum, the architectural and archeological complex of Turkectan consists of an ancient settlement, a necropolis, 15th-17lh century mausoleums, and other buildings from different phases of history.
To the west of Kazakhstan in the Mangistau region, dried by the sun and blown with fierce winds, there are holy places for all Kazakhs. Thousands of pilgrims flood to this severe and beautiful region every year in order to touch eternity and feel the divinity of the ancient temples and mausoleums. Thousands of cultic buildings and gravestones have remained there to the present day.
The most interesting are necropolises such as Beket-ata, Shopan-ata, Shakpak-ata, Seisem-ata, Masat-ata, Karaman-ata, Koshkar-ata, Sultan-ере, Hanga-baba, Kenty-baba, Ushtam, Akshora and other burial places of holy fathers with second-sight. The most ancient of the necropolises is Shakpak-ata, an underground mosque dating back to the 9th-10th centuries A.D. Its dimensions slightly exceed six rope yurts. The walls of the mosque are coated with shell rock, and the columns supporting the ceiling are decorated with ingenious ornaments.
Another fabled place is located in the Oglandy area. According to ancient legends, over 800 years ago Shopan-ata, a follower of Saint Khoja Akhmed Yassawi, found his teacher's staff here and dug an underground mosque. The staff, stuck in earth near the mosque's entry, gave birth to a sacred tree, which has kept on growing to this day.
After hundreds of years, in the 17"1 century, this sacred area formed the beginning of the ascetic path of Beket-ata, known in the Moslem world as a diviner and prophet, able to read the book of existence. He healed the sick, helped to solve disputes, and taught believers to be fair and to do good. This wise and holy man also remained in peoples' memories as a warrior, having accomplished great feats in battles with enemies. Beket-ata was buried near the mosque that he himself cut in the chalky rock massif. The mosque consists of seven underground rooms designed in the style of the interior of a Kazakh yurt. The Beket-ata necropolis, the route to which passes through Shopan-ata, is a spiritual, historical and architectural monument not for Mangistau alone, but for all of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is currently attracting a growing number of foreign mountain tourists and climbers. The Chimbulak skiing resort, which is situated 25 km from the city of Almaty at a height of 2,200 m above see level is very popular among them. It is located above the picturesque gorge of the same name, which is famous for persistent snow cover from November to May and with wonderful views of the surrounding mountain peaks. The modern chairlift at Chimbulak takes tourists to the dizzy heights of the Talgar mountain pass. A long natural slope with various types of terrain and a unique snow composition make Chimbulak an ideal place for downhill skiing and a popular haunt of mountain skiers.
The mountain ranges of the Northern and Western Tien Shan, with their developed glaciations and jagged glacial forms, provide a wide variety of routes at all levels of complexity for both novice and professional mountaineers. The most advanced alpinists can grapple with the peaks of the Central Tien Shan, at heights from 4,500 to 6,500 m. There is the northernmost of the World Mountains with a height of about 7,000 m there - Khan Tengri (6,995 m), whose name was used as the title of an international festival that brings together fans of extreme tourism from all over the world every year. The speed record for climbing this mountain is held by Kazakhstani climbers, who figure among the strongest in the world.
An international mountaineering festival in Eastern Kazakhstan has also become a great tradition. The focus of the event is the climb to the highest peak of the Altai Mountains - Mount Belukha. The ancients believed this mountain to be a land of gods - Shambala, to which Gautama Budda had made a pilgrimage and through which passed the energy bridge connecting Earth with the Universe.
Despite having its own unique cultural and historical heritage, Kazakhstan still remains a terra incognita to foreign tourists - an unknown and mysterious land. Unfortunately, our country is often identified abroad only by its huge reserves of mineral resources. We would like to tell you about the other Kazakhstan - a land still to be discovered by foreign travellers.
Kazakhstan is a land where civilizations have risen and fallen for thousands of years. Sites of ancient people from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages can be found there, as well as burials from the Bronze Age, and dozens of ruined medieval cities, castles, and cultic buildings. Many of the 27,000 ancient monuments peppered over the whole area of this steppe state still await research. There are, for instance, concentrations of petroglyphs, or rock drawings, revealing the diversity of the art traditions of the ancients. Petroglyphs can be found everywhere—in steppes and gorges, on cone-shaped hills and headstones. In addition to the larger concentrations, amounting to thousands of rock drawings, there are also small groups consisting of some hundreds or just a few tens of drawings.
At the end of the 1950s, a unique sanctuary, hailed today as one of the finest displays of ancient rock painting, was found in the Tamgaly area of the Semirechye region. The plots of the petroglyphs cover whole phases of Kazakhstan's history. Over 4,000 drawings, dating back to the Bronze Age, the times of the early nomads, and the Turkic period, have been found there. Sun-head gods, multi-figured compositions of people and animals, ritual sacrifices, scenes of hunting and fighting and dances were painted in this "outdoor" gallery. Prayerful inscriptions, images of tamga, disks and chariots occur among the petroglyphs. The Tamgaly area (in Kazakh "tamgaly" means "marked by a patrimonial sign", or tamga) is protected by UNESCO and can fairly be claimed as a world treasure of art.
World-wide fame has been accorded to the "Golden Man" found in a dig at a burial mound near the town of Issyk (Almaty region) in 1969. This burial ground dates back to the 4th century B.C. and is considered to be the most outstanding archeological monument from the Scythian and Saka periods in Kazakhstan. The remains of an illustrious Saka warrior were found there. His costume consisted of 4,000 gold plates arranged in the so-called "animal style". The warrior's head was crowned with a high pointed helmet decorated with images of winged steeds symbolizing the Sun God. The Saka was armed with a long sword and a short dagger. A silver bowl found in the shrine contains an inscription of 26 symbols at the bottom, the meaning of which still remains unsolved. There were also pottery, wooden trays, and jugs made of silver and bronze.
A reconstructed costume of the "Golden Man" can be seen today in the Museum of Gold in Almaty.
The Bes-Shatyr ("Five Tents") necropolis, .another monument of the Sakian age, is also located in the Semirechye, on the upper reaches of the Hi River. There are 18 royal mounds 8-70 m in diameter and 2-20 m high within an area of 2 sq. km in this place. Under the mounds, shrines of a complex design were built from Tien Shan fir-trees. To the west of the shrines, a chain of 45 rock walls stretches from north to south. Scientists believe that this chain of walls has a ritual nature and is an essential part of the necropolis. An unusual chronicle, carved on the rock, contains drawings of animals, also scenes of hunting and the everyday life of the ancients.
The ancient cities and architectural monuments of Kazakhstan lying along the Great Silk Road are not only places of pilgrimage for faithful Moslems from many countries, but also tourist sites visited mostly by foreign travellers. The Great Silk Road is one of the most significant achievements in the history of world civilization. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, extensive networks of caravan tracks crossed Europe and Asia from the Mediterranean to China and were the essential means of trade and dialogue between the cultures of West and East. The longest part of the road passed through Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Only ruins are left of the numerous cities settled in the "steppe" section of the Great Silk Road. And only isolated architectural monuments to this age have remained to the present day. Some of these are located near the modern city of Taraz.
The first record of this ancient city dates back to 568 A.D. However, it reached its peak in the 1O'h-12In centuries, as the capital of the Karakhanids state. The Karakhan mausoleum was built over the grave of one of their dynastic rulers of this period. It is a brick building of dome and portal design, inside which there is a surviving stepped gravestone. Sha Mansur, a second small mausoleum, was erected over the burial site of a governor appointed by the Mongolian chagans. The inscription remaining on the flagstone inside the mausoleum testifies that he was killed in 1262.
The most interesting for researchers and tourists are two monuments situated at a distance of 18 km from Taraz and included by UNESCO in its list of world architectural treasures. The first of these — the Babaji-Khatun mausoleum — was built in the 11th century and has a hipped cupola roof of a very rare design. The second one — the Aisha-Bibi mausoleum — dates back to the 12th century. It is fully decorated with carved terracotta, whose richest ornaments are represented by plates with various patterns, as well as benches, tiles, and fancy inscriptions. The capitals and columns of terracotta blocks, together with the whole wall, are covered with extremely fine drawings, which represent a very rich collection of eastern ornamentation.
In October 2000, under the aegis of the UNESCO, another city in South Kazakhstan — Turkestan — celebrated 1,500 years since its birth. The history of this city (known as "Yassy" until the 16th century) is inseparably associated with the developing ethnic and cultural contacts within Central Asia, the processes of Islamization among the Turkic peoples, and its settlement as the first capital of the Kazakh khanate. Turkestan has international importance as an architectural monument and is now a place of pilgrimage for tourists from all over the world. They come to view a matchless masterpiece of medieval architecture — the Khoja Akhmed Yassawi Mausoleum.
This outstanding Sufi master, philosopher and poet lived and worked in the 12lh century. The small mausoleum, where he was buried in 1167, later became an object of mass pilgrimage and worship for Moslems. Three visit there equated to a hadj to Mecca. The present-day Mausoleum was erected on the orders of Emir Timur over the grave of the great Sufi master 233 years after his death. It represents a huge longitudinal building of portal and cupola design. In the central hall (kazanlik) of the mausoleum, there is an enormous cauldron (kazan) that forms a symbol representing unity and hospitality. The kazan is made from a seven-metal alloy, its diameter is 2.45 m and its weight 2 tones. The kazanlyk is overarched by the largest brick cupola extant in Central Asia, 18.2 m in diameter. The walls of the mausoleum are made of burnt bricks, the manufacturing technology of which reached perfection here. The veneer of the north doorway and the shrine door, which is also carved and has delicate bone inlay work, are distinguished by their magnificent beauty.
Besides the mausoleum, the architectural and archeological complex of Turkectan consists of an ancient settlement, a necropolis, 15th-17lh century mausoleums, and other buildings from different phases of history.
To the west of Kazakhstan in the Mangistau region, dried by the sun and blown with fierce winds, there are holy places for all Kazakhs. Thousands of pilgrims flood to this severe and beautiful region every year in order to touch eternity and feel the divinity of the ancient temples and mausoleums. Thousands of cultic buildings and gravestones have remained there to the present day.
The most interesting are necropolises such as Beket-ata, Shopan-ata, Shakpak-ata, Seisem-ata, Masat-ata, Karaman-ata, Koshkar-ata, Sultan-ере, Hanga-baba, Kenty-baba, Ushtam, Akshora and other burial places of holy fathers with second-sight. The most ancient of the necropolises is Shakpak-ata, an underground mosque dating back to the 9th-10th centuries A.D. Its dimensions slightly exceed six rope yurts. The walls of the mosque are coated with shell rock, and the columns supporting the ceiling are decorated with ingenious ornaments.
Another fabled place is located in the Oglandy area. According to ancient legends, over 800 years ago Shopan-ata, a follower of Saint Khoja Akhmed Yassawi, found his teacher's staff here and dug an underground mosque. The staff, stuck in earth near the mosque's entry, gave birth to a sacred tree, which has kept on growing to this day.
After hundreds of years, in the 17"1 century, this sacred area formed the beginning of the ascetic path of Beket-ata, known in the Moslem world as a diviner and prophet, able to read the book of existence. He healed the sick, helped to solve disputes, and taught believers to be fair and to do good. This wise and holy man also remained in peoples' memories as a warrior, having accomplished great feats in battles with enemies. Beket-ata was buried near the mosque that he himself cut in the chalky rock massif. The mosque consists of seven underground rooms designed in the style of the interior of a Kazakh yurt. The Beket-ata necropolis, the route to which passes through Shopan-ata, is a spiritual, historical and architectural monument not for Mangistau alone, but for all of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is currently attracting a growing number of foreign mountain tourists and climbers. The Chimbulak skiing resort, which is situated 25 km from the city of Almaty at a height of 2,200 m above see level is very popular among them. It is located above the picturesque gorge of the same name, which is famous for persistent snow cover from November to May and with wonderful views of the surrounding mountain peaks. The modern chairlift at Chimbulak takes tourists to the dizzy heights of the Talgar mountain pass. A long natural slope with various types of terrain and a unique snow composition make Chimbulak an ideal place for downhill skiing and a popular haunt of mountain skiers.
The mountain ranges of the Northern and Western Tien Shan, with their developed glaciations and jagged glacial forms, provide a wide variety of routes at all levels of complexity for both novice and professional mountaineers. The most advanced alpinists can grapple with the peaks of the Central Tien Shan, at heights from 4,500 to 6,500 m. There is the northernmost of the World Mountains with a height of about 7,000 m there - Khan Tengri (6,995 m), whose name was used as the title of an international festival that brings together fans of extreme tourism from all over the world every year. The speed record for climbing this mountain is held by Kazakhstani climbers, who figure among the strongest in the world.
An international mountaineering festival in Eastern Kazakhstan has also become a great tradition. The focus of the event is the climb to the highest peak of the Altai Mountains - Mount Belukha. The ancients believed this mountain to be a land of gods - Shambala, to which Gautama Budda had made a pilgrimage and through which passed the energy bridge connecting Earth with the Universe.
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