40km east of Taraz and 6km south of the railway station at Aksholak at the base of the Kyrgyz Alatau Mountains, a huge stone construction was discovered almost two centuries ago – ‘Akyrtas’. The first person to notice the red sandstone blocks was the Russian artist M.S. Znamenskii (1864), who made fascinating drawings of the stone walls which stood 1.5-2m high. From that moment on, academics worldwide have been racking their brains over the ruins of this mysterious construction, raising all kinds of irreconcilable theories about its purpose and its creators. Many years’ worth of archaeological work has led to the identification of Akyrtas as an early medieval construction composed of the following structures: a palace complex, a monumental structure sized 205 x 185m, made from large red sandstone blocks; a ‘fortress’; a castle sized 40 x 25m with walls 3-3.5m high; a park/garden area east of the palace complex, surrounded by a wall sized 250 x 250m; a residential district situated north of the palace complex; several mounds, most probably farmsteads, situated near the complex; a stone quarry; a watch tower; a ‘craftsmen’s settlement’; a water supply system made up of half-metre, plaster stone pipes joined together, which drew water from the mountains 12km away; and a series of Saka burial mounds. Right next to the palace complex a fairly small roadside caravan settlement (13^th century) was discovered.

Looking at Akyrtas from above, the construction bears a great resemblance to a giant microchip built into a pyramidal base. Sites analogous in planning to Akyrtas have been located among examples of Near and Middle East architecture, something which leads to the indication that Akyrtas was built as a palace to act as a summer residence for the governor of the Karluk kaganate. The German researcher B. Brentes has named the exact date of the building as 714-715AD and asserts that Akyrtas was built on the order of Arab leader Abu-Muslim Kuteiby, head commander of the combined Arab forces in the Battle of Atlakh in 751AD, to be his summer residence in the north. The plans were doomed to incompletion when the commander tragically died.

Archaeologists have not ceased to amaze with new discovery upon new discovery: a genuine sensation was the uncovering of an almighty foundation for a stone wall at a depth of 3.5-4m, dividing the construction into numerous rooms of different sizes. The thoroughness of the smoothing of the blocks is comparable with the workmanship of the Egyptian pyramids. Remains of an early Islamic mosque were also found here.

Archaeological investigations of the site and parallel restorative works continue to this day in preparation for the opening of an open-air museum.