With its glistening turquoise dome, manicured gardens, and throngs of pilgrims, the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is hard to miss from any vantage point in Turkistan. In fact, this mausoleum is considered the most important cultural remnant in all of Kazakhstan, which is saying something for a nation that stand as the ninth largest in the world. It’s story starts with the life of the man now buried inside that dome, born over 900 years ago.

Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, born in 1093, was a mystic sufi, and the earliest known poet to compose works in the Middle Turkic. As a pioneer of the Turkic Sufi, his influence spread across the region and helped transform the once dusty outpost of Turkistan into a destination for all seeking wisdom. Under its arches, domes and landscaped courtyards, the call for prayer interweaves with the murmurs of ancient Sufi poetry. Here still lies an oasis drawing a nation together and linking civilizations across continents - the legacy of one man reverberates across Kazakhstan, both past and present.