Guide to Ulytau.

“If diversity is a source of wonder, its opposite - the ubiquitous condensation to some blandly amorphous and singulary generic modern culture that takes for granted an impoverished environment - is a source of dismay. There is, indeed, a fire burning over the earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame, and re-inventing the poetry of diversity is perhaps the most importent challenge of our times” 

Wade Davis.

Tourist routes in Ulytau.

Mausoleum Makat (Sagan), located at an altitude of 322 meters above sea level, located 100 meters from the right (eastern) bank of the Kara-Turgai River, in the northern part of an ancient, small necropolis, in the western part of the Kyrgyshtau mountains, 7.1 kilometers northwest of the village of Korgasyn (Shenber), 43.4 kilometers southeast of the village of Ekidin, 11.1 kilometers northeast of the Zhakuda Ishan mosque, in the Ulytau district in the northwest of the Ulytau region.
The Mausoleum of Makat was erected in 1923 by the master Satybaldy Koshkaruly. The dimensions of Makat mausoleum in plan are 5.5 x 5.6 meters, the total height of the mausoleum is 6 meters. In the construction of the mausoleum, a curved brick measuring 26 x 12 x 7 centimeters was used.
The mausoleum is represented by a dome-centric form, with a portal, flanked at the corners by round columns, a sphero-conical dome is mounted on a round drum. The main facade is decorated with a U-shaped belt and ends with three semi-arched arcs.
The remaining facades are decorated with figured carpet masonry. The decorative frieze has a U-shaped ornament (madakhil). In the thickness of the portal wall there is an entrance to the roof of the mausoleum.
There is an opinion that the Mausoleum of Sagan Makat was erected in the 18th century. A feature of the mausoleum of Makat is the presence in it of a 2-chamber (male and female) underground crypt. Such burials are rooted in Zoroastrian traditions.
This is a family crypt, where the descendants of Makat from the Tolek clan of the Argyn tribe found their last refuge, hence its name. You can enter the mausoleum only one at a time, as the entrance is very narrow. Within the walls of the mausoleum, the descendants of Makat laid the bodies of their dead relatives.
They were buried here according to ancient customs. When a person died, his body was not buried, but laid in an underground room. The cell was divided into two parts with a white curtain: the remains of men were placed in one part, and the remains of women in the other.
There is also a common open grave pit. When another relative died, the remains of the previous deceased were lowered into the grave pit, and the remains of the recently deceased were placed in its place. A certain temperature is maintained in the underground room and there is no smell of smoldering.
The remains of more than twenty relatives of Makat are now buried in the mausoleum. According to local residents, the place where the mausoleum was built has long been considered sacred, and the bodies are well preserved, because the Kara-Torgai River flows nearby, and there are springs in the ground that descend from Ulytau.
The builders of the mausoleum knew that this place would serve the time perfectly. On March 21, 2008, by Decree No. 279 of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Makat Mausoleum was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of national importance in the Karaganda region.
In 2022, the Makat (Sagan) mausoleum was restored by the Kyzylodin branch of the State Enterprise "KazReconstruction".
Geographic coordinates of the Makat mausoleum: N49 ° 15'23.01 "E66 ° 35'12.00"

Authority and photos by:
"Archaeological map of Kazakhstan." Alma-Ata, 1960. No. 937, Akishev K.A. "Antiquities of Northern Kazakhstan." Kazakhstan National Encyclopedia, 4 vol. 2001.
https://library-rudny.kz/kraevedenie/mavzolej-sagana-makata/
https://ulytaureserve.kz/490-mavzolej-makata.html