KAZAKHSTAN Turkestan, spiritual center of Kazakhstan

Also called “the pearl of the Silk Road”, Turkestan is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. In recent times, the figure of the dervish Khwaja Ahmad Tasavi, Islamic preacher and Sufi poet, whose mausoleum is the destination of great pilgrimages, has been revalued. Currently, it tries to combine futuristic dimensions with the legacy of the past.

Turkestan () – A series of cultural propaganda and advertising events these days exalt the special charm of the city of Turkestan, presented as the “spiritual center of Kazakhstan”.

Also called “the pearl of the Silk Road”, Turkestan is one of the oldest cities not only in Kazakhstan, but in all of Central Asia, whose “glorious past, dynamic present and future prospects” it aims to represent, according to a report from CentralAsia.

Founded in 490 AD, the city reached its peak in the 12th century. Surrounded by powerful walls and watchtowers, Turkestan became the administrative center of many Central Asian lords and commanders of the Korasmic, Mongol, Timurid and Sakhbanid dynasties, and later became the capital of the Kazakh Khanate between the centuries. XVI and XVIII. A meeting place between nomadic and sedentary cultures, but also a crossroads of trade routes, the most solemn ceremonies for the enthronement of khans took place in Turkestan, in the presence of representatives of many other states.

On several occasions in recent times, the figure of the dervish Khwaja Ahmad Tasavi, who lived in the 12th century and to whom a large mausoleum was dedicated at the end of the 14th century over his tomb, on the territory of the Khazret-sultan museum, has gained importance. its literary title. Central Asian philosopher, Islamic preacher and Sufi poet, he wrote works in the Uyghur language of the first Muslim dynasty in the region, that of the Karajanids, to which the Turkic populations of all of Asia, up to Chinese Xinjiang, referred. Currently, the mausoleum is the destination of great pilgrimages, which if repeated at least three times are equivalent to the canonical pilgrimage to Mecca, making Turkestan a true Islamic sanctuary.

Next to the sacred tomb of Tasavi are several museums and imposing buildings, recently restored and reorganized, such as the Koltobe and the Khuma mosque, as well as the “underground” mosques of Aulye Kumšyk and Khilbet and the Šildekhan ritual complex, together with a oriental sauna in the medieval citadel, the so-called Šakristan, the “city within a city” within the walls. Other mausoleums are dedicated to the janes and the powerful of local history, forming a complex of more than 100 historical and archaeological monuments of great importance, with more than 25,000 pieces on display, including manuscripts, architectural designs and ancient coins, visited by more than 350,000 tourists a year, not counting pilgrims.

The reconstruction of Turkestan, begun during the decades of rule of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, aims to place futuristic dimensions alongside the heritage of the past. Numerous museums and centers have opened in the new part of the city, with ultra-modern forms of exhibition, such as the Yuly Dala Eli center and the Khodži Akhmeta Yasavi and Altyn Samuryk museums. One of the best-known architectural complexes of recent times is the Karavan-saraj, which aims to make visitors relive the sensation of the ancient Silk Road, with its streets of merchants and artisans' workshops, caravans and bazaars of yesteryear.

The theater could not be missing, or rather, the recently completed “flying theater”, an amphitheater for gentlemen's events, in the middle of an endless shopping center with all the comforts, cinemas, bars, restaurants and spas for relaxing. the clients. The center stands on a network of water canals, where scenes of “boat parades” take place, intended to represent the new routes of the future of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole.