Blue dome of Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

The blue dome of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is a spectacular architecture feature from the 14th century.

Already before travellers arrive to the city Turkistan they see from the distance in the flat, dry and hot steppe of southern Kazakhstan a blue dome shining bright. It looks at first like a mirage and if the visitors coming closer and closer they will realise and will be impressed by this gigantic mausoleum for the popular Sufi Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Emir Timur probably had this experience in mind when he commissioned this building in 1389 – to impress the nomads about his power.

The mausoleum itself is a rectangular structure, with a height of 38.7 meters. The blue dome is the largest brick dome in Central Asia and has a diameter of 18.2 meters. The building is unfinished because Emir Timur suddenly died in 1404 and the construction was stopped. But the building became the prototype of the Timurid Architecture and you can find the architectural feature and ceramic ornaments on places like Samarkand, Tashkent or Bukhara.

The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi became the 1st architectural monument in Kazakhstan to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003 and underlined the cultural importance of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

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