ASTANA – The construction of a visitor center in the Makhambet district of the Atyrau Region on the territory of the Saraishyk State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve will soon be completed, attracting more tourists to the region, reports Kazinform news agency. The new visitor center expects the first tourists in the spring.
Plan of the visit center. Photo credit: inform.kz. Click to see the map in full size.
Saraishyk was one of the most famous sacred settlements of the 13th-16th centuries, located on the Great Silk Road that connected East and West. Located on the right bank of the Zhaiyk (Ural) river, it was an important trade and cultural center with a developed system of education, science, crafts, and trade. It was also an Islamic center.
After the dissolution of the Golden Horde, Saraishyk became the capital of the Nogai Horde, and then the Kazakh Khanate. One of the rulers of the Kazakh Khanate – Kasym Khan, – who ruled in the first quarter of the 16th century, sat on the golden throne in Saraishyk.
Top view on the visit center. Photo credit: inform.kz.
The visitor center will have a hotel with ten rooms and its own dining room for the convenience of tourists. It will also have conditions for scientific work, including separate rooms for museum employees and a laboratory.
“The main purpose of the future visitor center on the territory of the Saraishyk museum reserve is to create the most comfortable conditions for tourists who want to get acquainted with both the history of the ancient settlement and the history of the Golden Horde, the Nogai Horde and the Kazakh Khanate,” said the museum’s director Abilseit Muktar.
There are six exhibition halls, each with its own themes, and an exhibition pavilion to introduce the rich history of the medieval city to tourists.
The museum-reserve fund consists of more than 4,600 ancient exhibits. The museum will be replenished with new exhibits. Research is now underway to study the history of the Golden Horde and open new tourist routes from the Saraishyk settlement to the Sarai-Batu tourist center in the Astrakhan region of Russia.
