Located not far from the Kutlug-Timur minaret, the Sultan-Tekesh mausoleum is one of the few surviving monuments of the pre-Mongol Urgench. Together with the Il-Arslan mausoleum, they represent the necropolis of one of the ruling Khorezm clans.

The mausoleum, built for the Khorezmshah Tekesh, who died in 1200, with its size and richness of decoration met all the requirements that were imposed on structures erected over the graves of royal persons.

The height of the building is 30 meters, and scientists call its main architectural value a roof covered with blue tiles, with inscriptions from the Koran, and a tower consisting of 24 compartments.

During his reign, Khorezmshah not only preserved the territory of his state, but also increased it, having managed to unite a huge space from the Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and from the Pamirs in the east to the Iranian highlands in the west. Tekesh built mosques and schools, patronized scientists and poets.

The Tekesh mausoleum once towered over the city and was a kind of beacon in the desert. Weary travelers saw him from afar and thus received a signal that their difficult journey was about to end.

In terms of its massiveness and artistic expressiveness, this monument is often compared with another masterpiece of the twelfth century - the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar in Merv. Both buildings towered over ordinary buildings and were the symbols of their cities.

Roman Teplyakov