Akyrtаs — Architectural-Archaeological Complex, 8th-12th Centuries

The medieval palace complex of Akyrtas is one of the most mysterious structures in Kazakhstan. The history of its study spans over 150 years. Local historians and scholars began paying attention to the stone ruins starting from the second half of the 19th century. In the 1890s, orientalist V. V. Bartold and geologist D. L. Ivanov conducted the first investigations of Akyrtas. V. V. Bartold identified Akyrtas with the medieval settlement of Kasri-Bas (Kasribas), which is mentioned in the writings of Arab travelers Ibn Khordadbeh and Qudama (9th–10th centuries). In the early 13th century, the Daoist monk Chang Chun recorded in his diary that he had seen ruins of red stone. K. M. Baipakov also supported the identification of Akyrtas with Kasri-Bas and considered it an unfinished headquarters of the Karluks, who controlled Zhetysu in the 9th–10th centuries.

The complex comprises structures dating to several periods: the unfinished Akyrtas palace complex, residential buildings outside the city, the ruler's palace, a fortress, hauz pools (reservoirs), a garden, and a quarry for extracting stone and clay.

Status: archaeological monument of republican significance. Since 2014, Akyrtas has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the "Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor." Since 2017, it has been included in the list of regional sacred sites under the "Geography of Sacred Places of Kazakhstan" project of the "Rukhani Zhangyru" program.