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Akyrtas quarry.

Sights of Akyrtas.

 “On the road we came across a stone settlement: stones of a completely red color; there are traces of an ancient military camp. In the west, there are large burial mounds, located like stars in the Bear"

Taoist monk Chan-chun. 1221. "Travel from China to Genghis Khan's camp."

Drive from Taraz to Akyrtas.

The quarry, where, apparently, the building material for the Akyrtas settlement-palace was mined is located at an altitude of 771 meters above sea level, located at the exit between the Kyzylkaynarsay and Uzynbulak rivers, 590 meters to the west and slightly east of the Akyrtas settlement, 12.4 kilometers to the west and slightly north of the village of Kaiyndy, 6.1 kilometers to the south and slightly west of the village of Aksholak (Akchulak), on the northern slope of the Kyrgyz Alatau ridge, in the Bayzaks district of the Zhambyl region.
The eastern side of the Kyzyl-Tash mountain, 776.5 meters above sea level, which is located 450 meters northwest of the Akyrtas quarry, was used to break stone, there was a quarry that stretched 350 meters from northeast to southwest .
Until now, hundreds of boulders, processed and semi-processed blocks, have remained lying, mountains of broken stone and rubble rise. The distance from the quarry to the construction site was approximately 200 - 400 meters, and on this path it was necessary to drag the stones through the bed of the sai, along which a small river flows, which dries up in summer and autumn.
  It is possible that the transportation of stone blocks and blocks was mainly carried out in winter, when it was possible to use sleds made of thick logs. Near the quarry, dugouts were found where quarry workers lived, as indicated by oval depressions, burnt bricks, and fragments of ceramics.
Geographical coordinates of Akyrtas quarry: N42°57'07.78" E71°47'45.99"

Authority:
K.M. Baypakov. "Medieval settlements on the Great Silk Road". Almaty, Gylym. 1998.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.