Post-Mongolian Monuments

It is already afar that a lonely standing minaret grips the attention. This is the famous KUTLUG-TIMUR MINARET (1320-30), the only surviving part of Konye-Urgench`s main mosque. Decorated with 18 bands of ornamental brick and a few turquoise tiles, the 64 m high minaret is thought to be the highest one in Central Asia . Its dimensions make people admire. Tapering upwards the slender minaret trunk measures 12 meters in the foundation diameter and nearly 2 meters at the top. Inside the minaret has a spiral stairway with 145 steps. Having ridden out many war attacks and earthquakes it is noticeably leaning 1,5 meters to the west now.

The first monument the visitors begin sightseeing with is the TURABEG KHANYM MAUSOLEUM (c.1320-30).This light and graceful 12-sided building with a double cupola is one of Central Asia`s most perfect structures. It consists of three premises built on a line: a small domed room with 2 doorways, a central hall and a rectangular annex. Of exceptional interest is the central hall due to its sparkling unrestored multi-colored mosaic on the underside of the dome. Being in perfect condition it has 365 geometric figures representing the days of the year. The rest of the interior design is equally meaning-laden: 24 pointed arches just below the dome stand for the hours in a day, 12 bigger arches further down for the months of the year and 4 big windows for the weeks of the month. The idea of these geometric patterns was to impress on men their lowliness before creation.

The last monument on the site is the MONUMENTAL GATE to a 14 th century caravanserai or probably a palace (the purpose is still obscure). Being heavily restored it is worthy of attention due its ornamental brickwork decorated with insets of blue and white tiles.

A small cluster of sights nestles in the middle of a modern town of Kunya-Urgench . The most important of them is the sacred NAJM-ed-din KUBRA MAUSOLEUM (1320-1330). This mausoleum is the town's holiest spot frequented by lots of pilgrims. Najm-ed-din Kubra was a famous 12 th to 13 th century Khoresm Muslim teacher and poet who founded the Sufic Kobra order. When the Mongols arrived, he was already 75 years old. This did not prevent him putting up an heroic fight –as a legend has it – but they beheaded him all the same. The mausoleum contains two coffins: one for his body and one for his head. The building is remarkable for its fine, unrestored portal decoration of aquamarine colored tiles.

Opposite the above-mentioned mausoleum is the late16 th century SULTAN ALI MAUSOLEUM. Facing each other the two mausolea form a shady little courtyard with a spreading tree in the middle of it. The design of the Ali Soltan mausoleum is based on the magnificent Turabeg Khanum mausoleum. But if the latter is the masterpiece of the Khoresmian school of architecture, the former is a vivid example of decline the city was experiencing in the 1580-s. Due to the internecine strife brought out in Khoresm, the mausoleum had been built in a careless way with neither facing nor ornamental decoration.

A minute's walk from these mausolea is the Dash mosque and madrasa (1908). It consists of a number of domed cells with doors overlooking a courtyard. Now it houses a museum where visitors can familiarize with various Turkmen handicrafts and archaeological finds from the sites of Kunya-Urgench.