75 kilometers south-west from At-Bashy town and the
river of the same name (Naryn oblast), on At-Bashy range, a remote Tash Rabat
valley stretches at a height of 3200-3400 m. In the valley, one can see
solitary Tash Rabat Caravansary – a stone fortress of the 15th century. Not
much is known about the history of its origination. The fortress was built by
diligent ancestors not far from the Chinese border. From time immemorial,
Caravansary was a transshipment point for merchant caravans of the Great Silk
Way. Merchants stopped there for a night’s lodging to shelter themselves from
wind and snow and to ensure rest to animals. According to other sources,
Caravansary was a Buddhist monastery. Local nomads consider Caravansary a holy
place and visit it to pray. This architectural monument was restored in
1980.
The foundation of Caravansary is in the form of a site, while the building is much higher than it can seem from outside, because the back wall of the building is deep in the slope of the hill. Within the building there are 30 rooms (including the room for negotiations and prayers) and a central chamber leading to these rooms. Once there was an underground exit to be used, when it was necessary to elope. By the present time, the place where the tunnel began has been dug up.
In the valley there are many wonderful places for camping. Tourists can have a good rest at hospitable shepherds’ and enjoy the landscape of vast areas and rocks either before or after crossing the Torugart pass (Chinese border). Tash Rabat was built in the 10th
century A.D. Initially
it functioned as a monastery. According to one of the versions, its founders
were the monks professing Christianity; the other version mentions Buddhist
monks. Four centuries later, at the epoch of the rise of trade on the Great
Silk Way, Tash Rabat stopped being a place of religious worship and was used as
a hotel or caravansary – a victualling house on the way of the travelers.
The space exudes a mystical light of the sun to shine into the building. There are many rooms inside the stables, such as a hall, bedrooms, a kitchen, etc. We can give more than just a passing thought to the life of caravans from that time. When visiting Tash-Rabat, make sure to walk through twice. Legend has it that the number of rooms you count on the first trip does not match the number of the second trip.
