A fortification-type monument located on the eastern side of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. It is a monument of national significance. Coordinates: 43˚17.894΄, 068˚16.262. In the earliest schematic plan of Turkistan’s fortifications, created in the early 18th century, the city is surrounded by a long defensive wall. In 1947, an expedition led by A.N. Bernshtam made a plan of the surviving fortress walls of the city’s citadel and shahristan. The first archaeological surveys of the fortifications of citadel were conducted in 1973. During excavations were identified three construction layers of the fortress wall, corresponding to the 19th–20th, 17th–18th, and 14th–16th centuries (T.N. Senigova).
According to A.I. Dobromyslov, the fortress wall surrounding the citadel began to deteriorate as early as the beginning of the 20th century. In 1978–1979, restorers relying on archaeological findings reconstructed the northeastern section of the fortress wall, the eastern tower, and the northeastern gate (A.N. Maryashchev, Yu.A. Motov).
The upper part of the fortress wall was crowned with battlements. The tower had a circular shape and was covered with wooden beams. From the second half of the 19th century, the fortress walls lost their defensive function and gradually fell into ruin. Later, in 1980, fragments of the walls were restored. In 1998–1999, restorers from the city of Turkistan carried out a series of repair works. In 1994, the monument was included in Historical and Cultural Monuments of Kazakhstan for the South Kazakhstan Region under number 590.4.
Литература:
- Стена крепостная // Свод памятников истории и культуры Казахстана. Южно-Казахстанская область. А., 1994. –С.277. №590.4.
- Цитадель қамал қабырғасы // «Әзірет Сұлтан» энциклопедиясы, І-том. Түркістан, 2021. 344-345 бб.
- Цитадель қамал қабырғасы // Түркістан өңіріндегі тарихи-мәдени ескерткіштер. А., 2016. 19 б.
- Исследования фортификационных сооружении // Смагулов Е., Григорьев Ф., Итенов А. Очерки истории и археологии средневекового Туркестана. А., 1999. – С.149-165.
