Getting There
You can get to Turkestan by bus and train. To get to the mausoleum is not a problem because it is in the city and for visitors there are local buses and minibuses, as well as local taxi services.
What to Expect
The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is a place of great religious and cultural impotance. The architecture of the mausoleum, made using the most advanced technologies of the time, is a unique phenomenon.
The shape of the mausoleum is rectangular with dimensions of 46.5Х46.5 m, the height of the dome is 44 m. The main shrine of the mausoleum is the “Thai Kazan”. This huge thicket is made specially for Great Timur and is made from 7 metals, also decorated with ornaments and the year of production and the inscription: “Be blessed” and “Kingdom of Allah”.
In addition to the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi himself, the complex includes a medieval bathhouse, an underground mosque, the mausoleum of Timur’s granddaughter, Rabia Sultan Begim, and other monuments.
History
Khoja Ahmed Yasawi died in 1166/67 and was buried with great honor in a small mausoleum erected for him, which subsequently became a place of mass pilgrimage and worship for Moslems. If a man visited this mausoleum three times it stood for Hadj to Mecca.
The present Mausoleum was erected 233 years after his death under the order of Timur. In 1389, 1391, 1394, 1395 in numerous bloody battles Timur destroyed the power of the Golden Horde and set fire to its capital the town – Sarai-Berk, and in honor of this victory that he decided to build a new, grandiose memorial complex on the site of the old mausoleum of Ahmed Yasawi, which was by then somewhat decrepit.
Facilities
Mausoleum located in the city, so there is no problem with the facilities.
