Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SOUTHERN
KAZAKHSTAN
This is the most Kazakh part of Kaza-
khstan: Kazakhs are generally the great
majority in the population, having been
settled here in large numbers during Soviet
collectivisation. It is also the only region of
Kazakhstan that was within the sphere of
the Silk Road and the settled civilisations
of Transoxiana in medieval times.
Chief among its varied attractions are
the pristine mountain country of Aksu-
Zhabagyly Nature Reserve and the Yasaui
Mausoleum at Turkistan, Kazakhstan's most
sacred Muslim shrine and a fine piece of
Timurid architecture. Shymkent is the re-
gion's main city.
allow archaeologists to excavate the heart of
medieval Taraz beneath its site.
In Soviet times Taraz was called Dzham-
bul, after the locally born Kazakh bard
Zhambyl Zhabaev. The centre of town is
Dostyk alany, a large ceremonial square
surrounded by off-pink governmental
buildings.
1
¨Sights
Regional¨Museum¨
mUSEUm
(
%
43 25 85; Tole Bi 55; admission 150T;
h
9am-
6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-7pm Sat & Sun)
The pride
and joy of what is one of Kazakhstan's best
local museums is the domed rear building
housing an unusually impressive collection
of
balbals.
Also in the rear courtyard is a
room dedicated to medieval Taraz, display-
ing chiefly paintings and pottery. The main
building holds a respectable array of stuffed
wildlife, battle paintings, chunky Kazakh
jewellery and a yurt lavishly decked out in
the style of a century ago.
Taraz
ТАРАЗ
%
7262 / POP 317,000
Situated on the route from Tashkent and
Shymkent to Bishkek and Almaty, Taraz
is one of Kazakhstan's oldest cities. In the
11th and 12th centuries it was a wealthy
Silk Road stop and capital of the Turkic Ka-
rakhanid state, but it was comprehensively
levelled by Chinggis Khan and effectively
disappeared until the existing town was
founded in the 19th century, as a northern
frontier town of the Kokand khanate. Today
it's a mostly Soviet-built place with leafy
boulevards, which has staged a commerce-
based comeback since the bleak 1990s. Iron-
ically the search for Taraz's lustrous past has
killed off its most interesting modern fea-
ture, the Green Market, which had a true
Silk Road bazaar feel but has been closed to
Taraz
æ
Sights
1
Dauitbek Mausoleum ...........................D2
2
Karakhan Mausoleum..........................D2
3
Reconstructed Medieval Mosque.......D2
4
Regional Museum................................. C1
ÿ
Sleeping
5
Hotel Gazovik ........................................ C1
ú
Eating
6
Kafe Real ................................................A2
7
Stambul Kafesi...................................... C1
8
Traktir Medved...................................... B1
Taraz
e
0
500 m
0
0.25 miles
A
B
C
D
(4km)
›
66
6
6
666
66
Park Lenina
City
Akimat
1
1
Shakhristan
Market (500m)
›
Zhansaya
Torgovy
Tsentr (4km)
(7km)
ÿ
5
Stadium
#
8
66
Dostyk alany
Gorbolnitsa
#
ú
-
#
î
66
â
4
ð
Connect
#
ú
7
›
#
›
#
Marshrutkas
to Bus Station
Ü
#
ò
66
#
ß
Marshrutkas
to Train Station
3
Park
Ryskulbekova
Russian
Orthodox
Church
#
æ
6
#
æ
2
1
Oblast
(Regional)
Akimat
2
2
#
6
Hotel
Komfort
(400m)
Hotel Lirona
(3.3km);
(3.5km)
6
#
ú
6
£
B
C
D
A
