Turkestan is one of the historical, cultural centers and ancient cities of Kazakhstan. This place is surrounded by the priceless architecture of the past and is a popular destination among lovers of historical sites and pilgrim tourism.
The museum-reserve “Azret-Sultan” is a combination of architectural and archaeological monuments created in 1978 and is part of the museum-reserve of architecture of Khoja Ahmed Yassavi.
The most popular part of the museum is the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassavi, which is the earliest historical monument and is included in the list of historical heritage sites of UNESCO.
The mausoleum was built in honor of the great Sufist and distributor of the Islamic religion Khoja Ahmed Yassavi at the place of his burial.
In addition to the mausoleum surrounded by the complex consists of several museums, among them: Koltobe, Hum mosque, mosques built under the ground by Aulie Kumshyk ata and Hilvet, ritual complex of Shildekhan, eastern bathhouse, medieval citadel and shahristan, fragments of the fortress and ruins of Alhodz ata mausoleums and Gauhar Ana, mausoleums of Rabigi Sultan Begim, Yessim Khan, Abylay Khan, Zholbarys, Kasym Khan, Zhanibek Batyr, Kazybek Biy and others.
The museum-reserve houses over 100 historical and archeological monuments, about 25,000 written, architectural and numismatic exhibits.
“Azret-Sultan” is an ancient city of museums and the spiritual center of all Turkic-speaking peoples. The Museum-Reserve is the most visited tourist complex in the region and the most important attraction of the whole country, annually it receives more than 350 thousand visitors.
