Forty Cupolas – Madrassa, Mosque and Mausoleum at the same time

There are 33 historical and cultural monuments within the Yoloten district, five of which are included in the list of facilities of the Ancient Merv Historical and Cultural Reserve. They consist of the Talhatanbaba Mausoleum, the Mausoleum of Imam Muhammad, the Ahun Baba Mausoleum, the Gammarbaba Mausoleum and the Hoja Pursantbaba Mausoleum. They have become not only medieval architectural monuments but also places of pilgrimage.

The most interesting one is Forty Cupolas; a 19th century AD Koran School called Kyrk Gummez (or forty domes) because it consists of a courtyard surrounded by a square structure with 10 domes on each side and Saxaul bushes picturesquely surround the mausoleum.

The Ahun Baba Koran School is named after a local mullah teacher. The Koran school was on the way from the centre of the medieval Silk Road to Soltanbent Dam. It is visited by the local Baluch community who live in the surrounding villages. The Hojageldi Ahun Madrasa is also a wonderful monument of Turkmen architecture. It is called Kyrkgümmez (forty cupolas) among the people.

Forty Cupolas, 35km southeast of Mary located near the Talhatanbaba Mosque, considered as a madrasah, a mosque, a minaret and it became a mausoleum after the death of Hojageldi Ahun. The scholar Hojageldy Ahun, who is buried here, founded it 250 years ago.

Hojageldi Ahun, who lived in the 19th century, was an educator and taught the children literacy. Until their future tutor was educated in Bukhara, his father, Abdurrahman, built a 40-domed madrasa at his own expense. His remains have been preserved to this day. Hojageldi Baba studied at the madrasa. For this he received a religious title called Ahun. Near the madrasa was a council of scholars, a minaret mosque. He had a rich library of books, most of which were donated to the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. Hojageldi Ahun passed away in 1917. In his honour, the place was called Ahun Baba, and his heirs built a mausoleum bearing his name near the madrasa.