Excursion to necropolis Kashkar-ata on Mangyshlak

Kashkar-ata necropolis.

Adventure and travels tours Mangyshlak.

“Everything that is known about the Mangyshlak saints is told here. Although, besides the mentioned ones, there are many others, the legends did not go to the Kirghiz about their deeds and life, because nomadic tribes were constantly changing in Mangyshlak. There were legs, Turkmens, Kalmyks, again Turkmens, and finally, the Kyrgyz”

Excursion Mangyshlak tour.

The necropolises are ancient in Manghystau. The earliest monuments belong to IX century. There you can follow the development of architecture during the centuries from simple stone fences to magnificent mausoleums.
Traditional architectural monuments show the combination of ancient pre-Moslem cults with the Islamic ideology and preservation of pagan signs to present times. Sagyndyk Cape is a deserted shore with rocky slopes with almost no plantation.
The Koshkar-Ata necropolis is located near the village of Akshukur, 20 kilometers from the city of Aktau in the Tupkaragan district of Mangistau region. The most characteristic type of monuments here are various versions of tombs of the Koytas type, stylized tombstones of small sizes of decorative processing.
At the ends and sides, tamgas and Arabian epitaphs are often carved. Of great interest are tombstones in the form of sculptures of koshars. Among other monuments, it is worth noting various fences, calculations, rough steles, located mainly in the eastern part of the necropolis.
Structures of the Kulpytas-Koytas type, although not numerous, are peculiar. The necropolis of Koshkar-Ata was considered one of the oldest - it stores the bodies of people of ten centuries. To the north of the grave of St. Koshkar Ata is the grave of his pupil and receiver from the Mangyshlak Turkmens, known as Khalifa (Khalifan), also revered by the saint.
The word "Khalifa" means a teacher. He was a student, the successor of Koshkar-Ata. The people remembered these legendary names. In one of the annals of the expedition to Mangyshlak there is the following:
“Everything that is known about the Mangyshlak saints is told here. Although, besides the mentioned ones, there are many others, the legends did not go to the Kirghiz about their deeds and life, because nomadic tribes were constantly changing in Mangyshlak.
There were legs, Turkmens, Kalmyks, again Turkmens, and finally, the Kyrgyz.”

Kashkar-ata necropolis.