Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi rises over the tomb of the great 12th-century Sufi poet and mystic in the town of Turkistan, southern Kazakhstan. Commissioned by Timur (Tamerlane) between 1389 and 1405 to honour the revered saint, it was left partly unfinished at his death, and that very incompleteness reveals the building methods of the age. Here Persian master builders experimented with the vaulting, domes and structural solutions later perfected in the monuments of Samarkand, making the mausoleum a prototype of Timurid architecture. Its immense portal, ribbed turquoise-tiled cupola — among the largest brick domes in Central Asia — and richly decorated halls dominate the old town and draw pilgrims to this day. One of the largest and best-preserved constructions of the Timurid period, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003.