Historical tours of ancient necropolises of Mangystau.

“God created temples in the midst of everyday life,
To pacify the earthly darkness
And he created mountains so that people
We did not forget the way to Him"

Yuri Klyuchnikov.

The Great Silk Road Mangistau.

The mausoleum of Karakoz dating from the XIII-XV centuries is located north of the Oy tract, 450 meters north of the ancient necropolis of Hanga Baba, 26.7 kilometers to the east and slightly south of the city of Fort-Shevchenko, 19.5 kilometers to the north-east of the village and 72 meters north-east of the Karakuz well in the Tupkaragan district of the Mangistau region.
This is a small necropolis with burials of the 16th - 20th centuries. The Kyrykkez necropolis is the ancestral cemetery of Kashagan Kurzhimanuly. The mausoleum of Karakoz is a typical quadrangular building of grayish-yellow color.
The dome of the mausoleum collapsed long ago. The walls of the mausoleum turned out to be stronger for the test of time. The single-chamber portal-domed burial vault is decorated with patterned drawings in the oriental style: images of household utensils and dishes.
Everything suggests that this is a woman's grave. There is such a legend. One bai had a beautiful marriageable daughter. Many wealthy suitors wanted his daughter's hand. Matchmakers one after another replaced each other at the Bai house.
But the girl's heart belonged to a guy from a simple poor family. The father opposed this marriage. And the young had no choice but to organize an escape. Upon learning of the escape, Karagez's relatives set out in pursuit.
Soon the young fugitives were caught up. As punishment for the theft, they tied the guy to the tail of a zealous stallion and let the horse free ride. For a long time, the horse walked along the steppe, dragging the body of a bleeding youth behind it.
The ground in those places was covered with bloody spots. Over time, mulberry trees with blood-black berries grew there. Upon learning of the death of her lover, Karagöz threw herself off the cliff and died. Like tears of inconsolable grief, the spring is pouring in the place of death of Karagez - clean, quiet.
It is heard only by those who, in a thirst for new impressions, accidentally wandered into these places or, like us, decided to make sure whether there really is a spring beating here, a mulberry grows and a mausoleum stands on a hill.
In memory of his daughter, the father built a mausoleum on a hill, on the Rock of Death (as the old-timers call it). The mausoleum stands at a distance from other burial places, thereby reminding that Karagöz committed suicide.
So it is customary among many peoples: those who have laid hands on themselves are buried separately. There is another legend about a girl of unprecedented beauty named Ayim. For the beauty of charming black eyes, she was nicknamed Karagez.
People say that this was one of the first beauties of the village, located not far from the gorge. Apparently, people envied her - an incurable disease overcame her. In inconsolable grief, Karagez raised a mulberry tree.
Early in the morning she watered the tree from the well dug by her father. But even this did not prevent the premature death of the karaoke beauty. And today, trees branch in this area, rustle with leaves, telling the murmuring spring water about the beauty of Karagez.
Spring water caresses mulberry roots, echoing the rustle of trees. Here, in the shade of branchy trees, it is pleasant to relax with hot tea prepared in a travel samovar. The steppe people have a good parable about tea: the first sip of road tea moisturizes the lips, the second makes one forget loneliness, the third examines the stomach, the fourth gives vigor, after the fifth one is ready to fight with the strongest batyr.
Geographic coordinates of the mausoleum of Karakoz: N44 ° 27'36.86 " E50 ° 35'38.38"

Authority:
Natalya Zaderetskaya "Tupkaragan - the cradle of Mangystau". http://mangystau.info

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.