ASTANA – A restored 7.5-meter-high Scythian-Saka era Baikara mound is set to become a new tourist attraction in the Shal akyn district in northern Kazakhstan, Director of the Center for the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Heritage Rakhat Mambetalinov said, as reported by Kazinform on March 22.
Baikara mound. Photo credit: inform.kz. Click to see the map in full size. The map is designed by The Astana Times.
“We want everyone to have a chance to plunge into history. Currently, we are preparing replicas of vessels and other equipment. Perhaps we will show the burial itself,” Mambetalinov said.
The Baikara temple complex is included in the list of monuments and sacred places of national significance. Erected in the 5th century BC, it was unveiled in 1956 by Kazakh archaeologist Kemal Akishev and excavated from 1996 to 1999 by a Kazakh-German expedition led by Viktor Zaibert and Hermann Parzinger.
According to Mambetalinov, archaeologists restored the complex with interior rooms, corridors leading to the burial chamber of the mound, and burials. The Kazakh Research and Design Institute of Construction and Architecture in Almaty, which focuses on reconstructing and preserving architectural landmarks, conducted the restoration work. Overall, 55 million tenge (US$118,364) was allocated from the state budget.
