Jeep tour to the mosque and necropolis of Shopan Ata -
Pilgrimage tours in Kazakhstan -
Shopan Ata is a necropolis dating from the X – XII centuries, a sacred sacred place, a place of pilgrimage on the Mangyshlak peninsula. The necropolis is the largest on the peninsula, it is a complex of burials, which are represented by monuments, mausoleums, saganatams, kupyltas, sandyktas, ushtas, stone sarcophagi. There are over 4,000 burials here. Next to the necropolis is the famous underground mosque Shopan Ata.
The necropolis owes its appearance to the appearance of this mosque in this region, the place where the mosque was located became sacred, which contributed to the appearance of the necropolis.
How to get there, visit -
Shopan Ata Necropolis is located in close proximity to the Shopan Ata Mosque, Kyzylsu locality, 20 kilometers from the village of Senek and 42 kilometers from the village of Kyzylsai in Mangystau region, Karakiyansky district, Kazakhstan.
GPS coordinates: N43°32' 49.88" E53°23' 36.47"
Information -
Shopan Ata necropolis was first explored in 1951 by an expedition of the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR under the leadership of M. Mendikulov. At the moment, the necropolis is included in the list of monuments of the Republic of Kazakhstan and is under state protection. At the time of the study, 1,600 monuments were described on the necropolis, the monuments are represented by medieval Turkmen and Kazakh monuments. Based on the given historical information and folk legends, it is possible to date the complex of the Shopan-Ata mosque to the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII century, when the penetration of the first preachers into Desht-i-Kipchak began. The Shopan-Ata necropolis was explored in 1952 by an architectural expedition led by Malbagar Mendikulov, in 1977 - 1978 by an expedition of the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR and in 1982 by an expedition of the Republican Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments.
The legend of Shopan Ata, a legend -
Shopan-Ata was a disciple of the famous Sheikh Khoja Ahmed Yassawi. One day, Khoja Ahmed gathered his followers-disciples and told them to shoot their arrows through the shanyrak - a hole in the vault of his yurt. Wherever the arrows arrive, they will have to preach the ideas of Sufism. The arrow of Shopan-Ata flew to Mangyshlak and fell on a small mountain near the village of a rich cattle breeder Bayan. A few months later, Shopan-Ata arrived in these parts, found his arrow and hired himself as a shepherd to Bay Bayan. Bai soon realized that his shepherd was not a simple man, gave him his daughter as a wife and patronized them. At the foot of the mountain on which the arrow fell, Shopan-Ata built an underground mosque.
Shopan Ata Necropolis in Mangystau region, Mangyshlak peninsula
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