Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

• Management System/Management Plan (Newly developed Master Plan; Conservation and Management Plan)
• Buildings and Development (Urban high rise/changes to skyline; Construction of a new mosque)
• Major visitor accommodation and associated infrastructure
• Interpretative and visitation facilities
• Housing

Total amount provided: 2018: USD 47,111 from the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust for the project ‘Technical support to the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan, Kazakhstan, by introducing Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in Central Asia’

On 23 February 2022, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, a summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1103/documents/. This report addresses several issues highlighted by the Committee at its previous sessions, as follows:

• The International Institute of Central Asian Studies (IICAS) conducted six visits to the property in 2020-2021. In January-February 2022, IICAS visited the site with international and local experts and reported that the state of conservation of the Mausoleum remains satisfactory and the new tiling on the dome shows positive results, although concerns remain over the movement of the masonry structure of the dome. In addition, IICAS and the expert team report a number of issues requiring further monitoring and amendment, including structural and moisture monitoring, improving construction details, and amending the new landscape installation, as well as the need for a Disaster Risk Management component for the Management Plan;
• Technical monitoring was implemented by Kazrestoration SRE and the Kazakh Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (KAACS) in 2020;
• The Scientific-Methodological Council is functioning and has met six times since 2020;
• The ticketing and access system has been upgraded and landscaping around the Mausoleum has been completed.
• With regard to the buffer zone, the landscaping of the Azret Sultan Museum reserve, which will be monitored for any impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, has been completed. Continuous archaeological excavations, stabilization and interpretation of the Kultobe Archaeological Park were carried out by Kazakh Research Institute of Culture LLP in 2019-2021, with financial support from the Eurasian Resources Group;
• Brief information is provided on the development of the Spiritual and Cultural Centre in the wider setting. The Caravanserai and the Hampton Hotel and Drama Theatre projects all complied with their project design, and the State Party’s evaluation concluded that no negative visual impact could be detected. The size of the Presidential Park was reduced due to the potential for archaeological remains;
• Three new projects in the wider setting and the buffer zone related to the Turkestan Spiritual and Cultural Centre project are noted, for which Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
• Extensive presentation, interpretation and awareness raising programmes have been implemented, with the Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, which was to be opened to the public in 2022;
• The State Party commits to updating the Management Plan and submitting this to the World Heritage Centre for review;
• Brief information on the Master Plan for the city of Turkestan is annexed to the report, comprising a short translation and two drawings: the ‘Historical and Architectural basic plan’ and ‘Master plan with the marked visual access protection zone’.

Following the receipt of third-party reports, on 13 December 2022, the World Heritage Centre requested the State Party to provide further information on developments in the landscape in front of the Mausoleum, the construction of an “ethnic village” and a commercial zone, which raise concerns on the state of conservation of the Mausoleum and the balance of tourism and the spiritual dimensions and sacral use of the property. The State Party replied on 13 January 2023, reporting that:

• The Committee’s decisions recorded in its Decision 43 COM 7B.67 have been implemented;
• Humidity has historically been a problem at the Mausoleum, and recent actions have reduced the humidity, which is constantly monitored;
• Metal ties and scaffolding are also historical;
• Tourists visit the Mausoleum primarily for pilgrimage and worship;
• Two international meetings on the technical condition of the Mausoleum were held in 2022.

Seven Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs) on projects in the buffer zone and the immediate setting of the property were appended to the State Party’s reply, all dated 30 April 2022. The majority of these HIAs were undertaken only after completion of construction projects. A brief report on the monitoring of the Kazandyk (main hall) and Askhana (kitchen) was also appended.

The continued monitoring of the Mausoleum by the experts engaged by the State Party is welcome. Their conclusions show that the state of conservation of the Mausoleum receives appropriate attention, but also highlight areas of concern, notably the structural integrity of the dome, including its timber beams; moisture penetration and associated salt efflorescence; unresolved electrical and fire security installation issues; and new inappropriate landscape installations adjacent to the Mausoleum, which the experts recommend removing or relocating 100 m away from the Mausoleum. The experts also highlight the need for a Disaster Risk Management Plan as part of the updated Management Plan, improved detailing and amended paving.

These recommendations by the State Party’s advisors are supported, bearing in mind that irrigation of the green landscaping may exacerbate the humidity problems that affect the Mausoleum. Further details on the functioning and scope of work of the Scientific-Methodological Council, constituted in 2019, would nonetheless be welcome.

The investigations and stabilization of the archaeological remains located in the buffer zone are welcome, as is the State Party’s commitment to monitor new landscape interventions in the buffer zone for their potential impact on the property’s OUV. However, this requires a clear definition of the attributes of the OUV and identified monitoring indicators. The Committee may wish to request the State Party to develop a full list of attributes of the OUV and a complete framework of monitoring indicators and submit these to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies. This would also assist the State Party in fully assessing the general and project-specific impacts of changes within the property, its buffer zones and wider setting, which remain of concern. It is noted that the State Party’s report on the visual impact of the Presidential Park and Memorial Complex of Khans, the Caravanserai and the Hampton Hotel and Drama Theatre only assesses views from the entrance of the Mausoleum towards the projects and not from the setting towards the property.

The State Party’s adoption of impact assessments is welcome. The Yassi Garden and the Ethno Village projects are in the buffer zone, and the First President Park, Memorial Complex of Kazakh Khans, Iimprovement of Arbat Pedestrian Alley and the Medina Palace Hotel, are in the immediate setting of the property. The seventh HIA concerns a proposal for Phase II of the Improvement of the Territory of the Azret-Sultan Reserve-Museum, located in the buffer zone of the property, which was not yet carried out. All seven HIAs submitted in 2023 take a defined set of attributes of the property into consideration. These attributes, identified in 2019, are limited to tangible aspects of the OUV. Wider values are also included in these assessments but provide a limited understanding of the contribution of the buffer zone and setting to the integrity and authenticity of the property. While it is welcome that HIAs were undertaken, it is regrettable that six of them were undertaken only after the projects had been finalised, and therefore should be considered as post-project analyses. The reports are all limited in their scope and their assessment of the impact on OUV. The State Party has not provided any timeline for the implementation of Phase II of the Improvement of the Territory of the Azret-Sultan Reserve-Museum project, which includes large, new domes constructions over the Kultobe archaeological site. it is recommended that the project should not be implemented, nor any decision made on its implementation until the HIA has been improved, based on a better analysis of the contribution of the buffer zone and setting to the integrity and authenticity of the property’s OUV. The new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessment in a World Heritage Context should be of use to the State Party in improving impact assessments for the property. It is also suggested that an on-site training course on impact assessments by the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and ICCROM could assist the State Party in improving future impact assessments for World Heritage properties in Kazakhstan.

The information provided by the State Party on the Master Plan is limited in scope and detail. The drawings are reproduced at a low resolution, while the textual translation includes only two pages of the adopted Master Plan and does not provide an explanation of the Plan’s intentions. The transmitted pages note that a standard construction height of 2-3 storeys (7-10 m) is allowed in the protected view axes, which exceeds the maximum 7 m height limit within the view axes requested by the Committee in Decision 44 COM 7B.31. The four-storey Medina Palace Hotel, located in the view axis limiting building heights to 7 m, was approved in 2019. While the HIA states that it was approved before the 7 m limitation was adopted into the Master Plan, the height limitations in place at the time of inscription of the property should nonetheless have been adhered to.

It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to urgently amend the Master Plan to take into account its previous requests, and to submit to the World Heritage Centre high-resolution copies of the ‘Historical and Architectural basic plan’ and ‘Master plan with the marked visual access protection zone’ with the accompanying written regulations and any other relevant documents, presented in one of the working languages of the Convention, for review by the Advisory Bodies.

It is also recommended that the Committee request the State Party to include a Disaster Risk Management Plan in the update of the Management Plan of the property and submit the Plan in one of the working languages of the Convention to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies.