Shakpak-ata, Western Kazakhstan

A few hours’ drive north of the city of Aktau lies Shakpak-ata, one of the many underground mosques to be found in Mangystau, a fascinating outpost of western Kazakhstan. Meaning ‘father of flint’, after a Sufi healer who once lived in these caves, Shakpak-ata was hewn from a chalky escarpment near the Caspian Sea coast around a thousand years ago; its architects no doubt motivated by a desire to burrow underground, away from the desert glare.

Shakpak-ata is a wild, beautiful place to visit; the innards of the cliff carved into a low-ceilinged, cruciform shaped mosque, the pale walls etched with Arabic inscriptions and images of horses and hands. Light seeps in from a circular opening in the ceiling, and a faded red carpet runs down the centre, the ground on either side worn smooth by centuries of pilgrims’ feet.

Half a mile away, across the stony steppe, you can visit a pilgrims’ hostel, where local volunteers feed any visiting pilgrims. When we travelled there this April, we met a group from Siberia sitting around a table laden with food: roundels of soft white bread; bowls spilling with sweets and biscuits; plates of camel milk fudge; slices of sugary cake and scattered chunks of shelpek - a type of fried Kazakh bread. It was a lovely thing to experience.

Visit Shakpak-ata as part of a tailor-made journey to Kazakhstan, or the wider Silk Road. Air Astana flies direct to Aktau twice-weekly. To find out more, contact us here.