Аннотация
The article, using information contained in both eastern and western written sources, in local folklore, research data of restorers, orientalists, archaeologists about the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi and the city of Turkestan, examines the history and architecture of the mausoleum against the background of the general history of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The work uses new findings about early buildings near and at the site of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Fragments of carved terracotta - examples of architectural decor, revealed by archaeologists and restorers testify to the addition of a complex of tombstones around the early mausoleum of Khoja Akhmed Yasawi, dating from the XII-XIV centuries. Based on the data obtained by one of the authors of the article when examining the interdome space of the mausoleum, it is concluded that in the Karakhanid period there was a memorial mosque near the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. To clarify the details of the interior and exterior of the newly built mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century, descriptions, fixations of scientists of the specified time, various materials stored in the archives of the Institute "Kazrestavratsia" are involved. To recreate the now lost real relics of the mausoleum, the records of those who visited the object in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, researchers, photographic materials of the "Turkestan Album"are involved. The history of the mausoleum in development is shown. Changes and losses during the late Middle Ages, the deplorable state of the monument after the capture of the city by the Russians, repair work during the period of the Russian Empire, the USSR and restoration during the period of independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan are considered separately. Key words: Central Asia, Kazakhstan, mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Turkestan, Yasy.