Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi is located in Turkestan in the south of Kazakhstan.
It was erected by order of Tamerlane on the grave of the poet Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, who had a great influence on Islam in Central Asia. Some researchers believe that the great commander himself took an active part in the construction project of the mausoleum. For example, Tamerlane decided on the size of the monument, as well as on some of the decorative elements.
During the Soviet era, the mausoleum was served as the republican anti religious museum.
Today the monument is part of the Azret Sultan memorial complex, which includes a medieval bathhouse, Yasavi’s cell, the mausoleum of Tamerlane’s great granddaughter Sultan Begim, the mausoleum of the Kazakh Khan Yesim and other monuments of different centuries.
The Yasawi Mausoleum is a rectangular building with portals and domes. The height of the main dome is 44 meters and its diameter is 22 meters. There is a central hall and more than 35 rooms inside. The central door is decorated with carvings on ivory and wood.
At the entrance you can see the inscription that has survived to this day: “This holy place was built at the behest of the sovereign, beloved by Allah, Emir Timur …”
The mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi is often compared to the Bibi Khanym mosque in Samarkand.
