Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi
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| Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
 |
|
| State Party |  Kazakhstan |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, iii, iv |
| Reference | 1103 |
| Region† | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2003 (27th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
|
Mazar of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is an unfinished mausoleum in the city of Türkistan (or Hazrat-e Turkestan), south Kazakhstan. In 2002, it became the first Kazakh patrimony to be recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The present structure was commissioned in 1389 by Timur to replace a smaller 12th-century mausoleum of a famous Sufi master, Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi (1103–66). Master builders from Persia, led by Khwaja Hosein Shirazi[1], erected a 39-meter-high rectangular building in ganch, i.e., fired brick mixed with mortar and clay, and crowned it with the largest dome ever built in Central Asia. This double dome, decorated with green and golden tiles, measures 18.2 metres in diameter and 28 metres in height.
The building, one of the largest for its time, was left unfinished when Tamerlane died in 1405. As subsequent rulers paid little attention to it, the mausoleum has come down to us as one of the best preserved of all Timurid constructions. It contains some burials from the time of the Kazakh Khanate, notably the tomb of Ablai Khan.
[edit] References
- ^ Mimaran-i Iran, by Zohreh Bozorg-nia, 2004. ISBN 964-7483-39-2, p.140
