National Historical and Cultural Reserve “Ordabasy”

Almost every nation has places that have become sacred for certain historical reasons. These are either the fields of bloody battles in which the fate of the nation was decided, or places where fateful decisions were made affecting the present and the future. Ordabasy is one of such sacred places for the Kazakh people.

The Dzungarian invasion of 1723-1725 in Kazakh history was called “Aktaban shubyryndy” - it was a time of deprivation and years of wandering. In 1726, in late autumn, on the left bank of the valley of the Badam River, a tributary of the Arys, representatives of all three Kazakh zhuzes gathered for the great kurultai. It was here on Ordabasy that numerous Kazakh tribes, which were scattered, united, overcoming all differences, in order to resist the most powerful and most dangerous invader, the Dzungars. This place had to be marked as a historical, cultural and spiritual landmark of the Kazakh people. On January 1, 1994, the Ordabasy Historical and Cultural National Reserve was opened here It is located on the left above-floodplain terrace of the Badam River, 40 km west of Shymkent. The reserve was created on the basis of the historical necropolis "Ordabasy", as well as complex and individual archaeological and architectural monuments of the Ordabasy area. There are 10 monuments of historical and cultural significance on the territory of the reserve-museum.

The total area of the cultural reserve is 1134 hectares. Historians who conducted research here discovered rock carvings and a complex of ancient burial mounds, all of these objects were also included in the reserve. At the very top of Ordabasy Mountain, a 28 m monument - stele stands today, as a reminder to descendants of those heroic years. A three-sided stele lined with slabs of white marble. Each face seems to be directed towards one of the sides of Kazakhstan: towards the Syr Darya - in the west, the Karatau mountains - in the north, the Kazygurt mountains - in the southeast. On each side of the stele there are plaques with the sayings of the three great biys. The memorial was erected in 2001 in the year of the 275th anniversary of the famous Kuryltai and in the year of the 10th anniversary of independent Kazakhstan. The authors of the complex were sculptor A. Mamyrbayev and architect G. Sadyrbayev. There is also a podium where in 1993 the presidents of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement on eternal friendship. There is a small pyramid-shaped building next to the central entrance to the reserve, and a museum is located here. The basis of the museum's exposition is made up of interesting archaeological exhibits found on the territory of the reserve, and have been actively used since ancient times. Special attention is drawn to the beautifully preserved Saka akinak sword, a brick with a Nestorian cross, as well as detailed maps illustrating the course of the Kazakh-Dzungarian war. In total, there are 1,376 exhibits in the museum's collections and expositions. Not far from the museum there is an original stone building Bilgetas, built in the summer of 1994 by a group of Shymkent artists, on the initiative and support of entrepreneur Ural Syzdykov. Today, the staff of the historical and cultural reserve employs 25 employees, including huntsmen, scientists, and guides. Every year Ordabasy is visited by more than 40 thousand tourists, the tourist peak here falls in autumn and spring as it is very hot in these places.