Museum complexes of Zhambyl region -
Taraz City Day Tour -
The ethnographic museum complex Tortkul Caravan Sarai is an ancient city, currently it is an archaeological complex, an open-air museum. The Tortkul complex was founded in the IX century, has been a busy shopping center for four centuries and is one of the complexes with deep roots in the history of the city of Taraz. The total area of the complex exceeds 100 square meters. The height of the ancient mounds is about 5 meters, the thickness is 5 meters. There are 4 towers around the mound, with two eight-meter gates on the south and north sides. The four rooms on both sides of the main gate housed an applied art workshop. The caravan-palace complex includes a hotel, stables for cargo camels and horses, as well as storage facilities. Special detachments were also used in these places to protect caravans and their contents from robbers.
How to get there, visit -
The ethnographic Museum Caravan Sarai Tortkul is located in Taraz on Suleymanova Street, Zhambyl region, Republic of Kazakhstan.
GPS coordinates: 42°55'27"N 71°20'32"E
Information -
The Turtkul Caravan Sarai is one of the historical sites of the city of Taraz, dating back to the XI-XIII centuries. Today, the complex is being turned into an ethnographic museum. During the research, it was found that the city walls were built of clay mortar (paks), typical of medieval cities. On the site of the settlement, a section of a mosque built in the early twentieth century, with several rooms of houses adjacent to the fences, was discovered and studied. The construction of the Caravan Sarai Tortkul complex eventually acquired its defensive significance, the appearance began to resemble a fortress. The complex is surrounded by fortress walls. Most of them are fenced in two parts. The double fortresses have a rectangular shape, with courtyards surrounded by rooms for various purposes. During archaeological excavations, various clay vessels, copper coins with Arabic inscriptions, arrowheads, horse harnesses such as stirrups, cauldron hearths were found. Now the complex can be visited in the excursion program and get acquainted with the ancient architecture and way of life of the Kazakh people. Roads have been made here to bypass the complex, an inner courtyard has been equipped, canopies have been built over the excavation site to preserve them in their original form and for the convenience of visiting them.
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