Turabek Khanum Mausoleum

Turabekhanim Mausoleum (also: Turabek-Hanum Mausoleum; Turkmen: Törebeg hanym kümmeti) – a medieval mausoleum located in the area of the Old Urgench National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve in the city of Old Urgench, Turkmenistan. The mausoleum was built in honor of Turabekhanim, daughter of the Golden Horde khan of Uzbekistan and wife of the Khwarezm ruler Qutlug Temur, who was originally from the Qong'irot lineage and later became a Sufi‑Qong'irot tomb.

Mausoleum History

"The Ancient Old Urgench" historical and cultural state reserve. Within its territory there are several architectural monuments from the 12th–14th centuries listed by UNESCO, one of which is the uniquely structured Turabekhanim Mausoleum. Turabekhanim Mausoleum, Sufi dynasty mausoleum – an architectural monument in Old Urgench (1333). The wife of Urgench governor Qutlug Temur, the daughter of the Golden Horde khan of Uzbekistan, is associated with the name Turabekhanim. The mausoleum reached us in a rather ruined condition. Turabekhanim is a real historical figure, daughter of the Golden Horde ruler of Uzbekistan and wife of his Khwarezm governor Qutlug Temur. Turabekhanim was a patron of women. Over time she was canonized and declared a saint. She died young and by order of the benevolent ruler a palace worthy of her charm was built over her grave by the best craftsmen of Khwarezm. The mausoleum is the tomb of the Sufi dynasty, built in the 14th century. According to Ibn Battuta, the current construction of the mausoleum dates to the 1330s of the 14th century.

Structure

Through a portal one enters a majestic hall, from which a large six‑sided chamber is accessed. Deeply recessed wooden beams are worked into the interior. The exterior is twelve‑sided, with deep recesses on all sides. The dome base is twenty‑four‑sided, with a cupola dome (the eastern part preserved), adorned with delicate interlaced patterns and muqarnas. The Turabekhanim Mausoleum is a unique example reflecting the high artistic mastery of 14th‑century Khwarezm architecture.

Exterior and interior decoration

The interior of the dome is covered with a mosaic panel of the finest work, patterned with stars and flowers. The inner plan of the tomb is designed in the shape of a hexagonal prism. The panel is a jewel of Khwarezm art that has no parallel in medieval architecture. At the top of the building a blue‑tiled tent was raised on a twelve‑hole high drum. The Turabekhanim mausoleum testifies to a new architectural style of the Near East, later becoming the basis for building construction in Mawarannahr during the Timurid period. The Turabekhanim mausoleum truly became the most magnificent building in the entire region. A building of astonishing beauty and elegance, its interior and exterior are richly decorated, with an astonishingly open, bright hexagonal hall of about one hundred square meters, adorned with carved mosaics. All this grandeur was crowned by the massive dome of the mausoleum. This was probably the most perfect dome in all of Central Asia’s Turan. Its top was covered with tiles – a tradition of very few buildings of that era.

The mausoleum today

Today the mausoleum is a local attraction visited by many tourists.