Tuesday 30 August 2011

A mausoleum in Kyrgyzstan


It was quite a challenge to find out about this card, first to find out where Kyrgyzstan is (to the west of China, south of Kazakhstan), then some detective work was required to find out what exactly this picture is.  On the reverse it says:
Ak-Taly mausoleums (gumbezs)
A Google search turned up only the same postcard and that same description, apart from one instance where it was described as a sand sculpture, possibly in Africa.  I decided it was unlikely and eventually found that Ak-Taly can have alternative spellings: Ak-Talas, Ak-Tala, Ak-Talaa.

Although the Kyrgyz people were mainly nomadic up until the 20th century, their nobles were given mud or adobe mausoleums.  They are unfortunately liable to erosion and weathering, resulting in the state shown in the picture.

There are some further pictures HERE but I have no idea what most of the text says, not even all that much of the English, though I'm fairly sure it's the same place.


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2 comments:

  1. Thank you for doing the research. It's beautiful - maybe even more so because of the erosion.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It certainly is a lovely mystery!

    ReplyDelete

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