Zharkent

Although Zharkent doesn’t have any sights, Tsarist-era mosque here is remarkable with elements of Chinese and Central Asian architecture. The mosque is circled by a line of red pained wooden columns which support the protruding green roof, turned up at the corners and it is named Pik Han. 

The wooden interior, spacious enough to hold 1 000 worshippers  with the wooden columns support a decorated, latticed balcony. The minbar at the far end of the room has a strongly Chinese feel, and is surrounded by Chinese-style lanterns. The mihrab behind it, a scalloped niche with a door in the back, in contrast draws more heavily from Central Asiatic traditions. The walls surrounding it are decorated with beautiful geometrical and floral designs. Beams on the wooden ceiling above are striped, like the skin of a tiger. The building was constructed without the use of nails.

In 1887, the leaders of the Muslim community of the young town decided to raise the funds to construct a mosque. The mosque was completed in 1892. It survived a major earthquake, as well as neglect in the early Soviet period when it was used as a store. The mosque was restored in the 1970s which turned the Zharkent Mosque in practice into an Architectural and Historical Museum. Today it remains officially a museum.

The mosque is entered through a powerful arched gate made in the Central Asian style. It is painted white and attractively decorated with engraved half-columns with Arabic inscriptions and floral designs. On your right, as you pass through the gate, is a portrait of Yuldashev, swathed in furs and sporting his medals. On reaching the courtyard beyond, look back at the gate through which you have just passed to get an excellent impression of the mix of architectural styles used in the construction of the complex. The gate is topped by a minaret in the form of a delightful two-storied pagoda. There are brick cupolas of a more central Asian inspiration on both sides of it. The windows below have a more Russian feel to them.