Ancient Taraz: visiting the buried Silk Road city under modern Taraz

Ancient Taraz is the medieval Silk Road city that lies under the centre of present-day Taraz, in southern Kazakhstan near the Kyrgyz border. The site sat under a busy market for decades. The market was moved in 2012–2014 so the old city could be excavated and opened to visitors. It is a city visit, easy to reach by plane or train, and best combined with the mausoleums around Taraz.

What Ancient Taraz is and where to find it

Ancient Taraz is an excavated layer of the medieval city in the historic core of modern Taraz, the capital of Jambyl Region. Its location was lost for centuries. Research by Wilhelm Barthold placed it under the Green Bazaar, the old central market. In 1938 an expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences led by A. Bernshtam and G. Patsevich dug to a depth of 2–6 metres to reconstruct the town.

The Central, Shahristan and Tazhibay markets were relocated in 2012–2014 to make room for excavation and tourism. In 2019 part of Tole Bi avenue in the historic district became a pedestrian street with a museum called Ancient Taraz. Locals call this street the ‘arbat’. Expect an urban archaeological site inside a living city, not a ruin in open steppe.

Why the site matters: a timeline

Taraz was a major trading stop on the northern branch of the Silk Road. Its high point came under the Karakhanids in the 11th–12th centuries. The sources do not agree on several early dates, so the table below shows both versions where they differ.

For the reader the key point is the Karakhanid layer. By English Wikipedia, the town of that era had underground water pipes of terracotta, paved streets and sewage collection, plus a multi-domed bathhouse of fired brick known as the Taraz Banya.

What else to see around Ancient Taraz

The excavated city is only one part of a day here. Several medieval monuments stand in and around Taraz. The Kazakh Wikipedia lists the mausoleums of Aisha Bibi, Babaji Khatun, Karakhan and Tekturmas, the Nametbay mosque and a medieval bathhouse. Outside the city, the same story continues at Kostobe and Akyrtas.

Dress modestly and keep your voice down inside the mausoleums. A Sunday animal market is also described by Wikivoyage, if you want a look at the region’s livestock trade.

Getting to Taraz from Almaty, Astana and Shymkent

Taraz is about 450 km in a straight line from Almaty and about 157 km in a straight line from Shymkent. It can be reached without a car by plane, train or minibus.

The railway station is 2 km south of the centre, and Wikivoyage mentions bus 47 from the centre. Train tickets can be booked in advance online. Wikivoyage notes that waiters at one kebab restaurant do not speak English. Taraz also works as a stop on a southern route towards Turkistan, Otrar and Sauran.

When to go to Ancient Taraz

Late spring and early autumn are the comfortable months for walking an open excavation. The figures below are computed ERA5 reanalysis normals for 2011–2020 at a grid point at 639 m, not weather-station readings.

July averages a daytime high of about 33.7 °C, with almost no rain, and there is little shade on a dig site. May (about 26.0 °C) and September (about 25.8 °C) are warm but manageable. April is the wettest month at about 58 mm. From December to February days barely rise above freezing and nights fall to around −7 °C. Wikipedia records extremes of +43.7 °C and −40 °C and wind gusts up to 30–32 m/s.

Russian Wikipedia notes that phosphate plants in the city have worsened air quality at times. We could not confirm current conditions.