Sauran and Otrar Silk Road Ruins

Otrar Was A Great Silk Road Trade City Whose Governor'S Killing Of Mongol Envoys Brought Genghis Khan West In 1219; Sauran, A Fortified Earthen City And A Former Capital Of The White Horde, Is A Ruins Landscape. Both Sit On The Tentative List For Silk Roads World Heritage Extension. · Turkistan, Turkistan

Otrar and Sauran were two big trading cities on the Silk Road in what is now the Turkistan region. Otrar is remembered for 1219, when its governor killed a group of Mongol merchants and envoys, and Genghis Khan marched west in answer. The city fell after a long siege and was wrecked, and the story is told as the start of the Mongol conquest of Central Asia. Sauran, a walled earthen city, later served as a regional capital in the Kazakh steppe, and a section of its rampart has been restored. What remains is mostly mud-brick mounds, ditches and wall lines in open desert country, with a small museum near the Otrar site. Be honest about conditions: facilities are few, shade is rare, summer heat is severe and there is a lot of walking on uneven ground. The sites make sense with a guide or a driver from Turkistan, and they reward people who enjoy empty landscapes and a good story more than carved stone or standing domes.

Two ruined Silk Road cities in the Turkistan region: Sauran, a walled earthen city north of Turkistan with a restored section of rampart, and Otrar, the site of the Mongol massacre of 1219, with a small museum in Shauildir, Turkistan, Turkistan, Kazakhstan

Both sites are open ground, so there is usually no gate, though the small Otrar museum and any staffed entrance keep ordinary daytime hours, often closed one day a week and on public holidays. Staff may only be present when tour groups are expected, so do not assume an office is open. Daylight is the practical limit. Summer midday is too hot to enjoy and winter days are short, cold and sometimes muddy. A paid entry or guide fee may be asked at the museum, and the amounts change. Confirm times and fees in Turkistan before you go.

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