Mausoleums1 km away
Mizdakhan
A vast hilltop necropolis near Khodjeyli, west of Nukus, with mausoleums, old graves and the ruins of a town, still visited by pilgrims.
Gyaur Kala (Mizdakhan)
Ruined fortress on the south side of the Mizdakhan site near Khojeyli, occupied from the 4th century BC until the Mongols destroyed it in 1221.
Fortresses4th century BC
About the place
Gyaur Kala is the fortified town at the southern edge of the Mizdakhan site near Khojeyli, in Karakalpakstan. Its oldest layers go back to the 4th century BC, which makes it far older than the cemetery and mausoleums on the neighbouring hill. The citadel that dominates the ruins dates from the 9th to 11th centuries.
Excavations have uncovered the remains of a fire temple and a palace. The town was destroyed in 1221 during the Mongol invasion and never revived. Today its eroded mud-brick walls are a short walk from the Mizdakhan necropolis, so the two are usually seen on the same visit.
Why go
- Layers back to the 4th century BC
- 9th–11th-century citadel
- Fire temple and palace remains
Nearby
- Mausoleums
Museums21 km away
State Museum of History and Culture of Karakalpakstan
Nukus's regional museum, founded in 1929, with archaeology from the Stone Age on, Karakalpak crafts and the 20th-century history of the republic.
Museums21 km away
Savitsky Museum
The State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan in Nukus, known for its collection of Soviet-era avant-garde painting alongside Karakalpak crafts and Khorezm archaeology.
Archaeology59 km away
Chilpik
A round Zoroastrian tower of silence on a lone hill by the Amu Darya, south of Nukus, where the dead were once exposed to the elements.