Аулие-Ата, Historic mosque in Taraz, Kazakhstan.
Aulie-Ata is a single-storey rectangular mosque on Adamayev Street in Taraz, built in 1904–1906 under master Seydulla Kozha for Yunus-bay. Three walls are fired brick and the east wall is wood; 18 wooden beams carry the ceiling. The prayer hall occupies the south part, with a mihrab in the west wall and plant-pattern painting inside. A 9×26 m extension was added in 1998–1999.
The mosque was built between 1904 and 1906 with funds from the local merchant Kalï Yunus Mayusulov, known as Yunus-bay, under the direction of the master builder Seydulla Kozha; it opened only in 1913. In the early Soviet years it was closed and reopened repeatedly, then turned into a grain store after the famine of the early 1930s and later into a barracks. It was returned to worshippers in 1943, and during the war the congregation raised money to buy a tank for the Red Army. Renamed Aulie-Ata after the 1998–1999 restoration, it honours the founder of the medieval Karakhanid dynasty and Taraz's first name.
The mosque serves as a gathering place where the local Muslim community comes together for daily prayers and religious observances. It functions as a center for spiritual life and communal connection in the city.
The mosque stands at Adamabayev Street 24 in Taraz, on the site of the original 27×12 m building; the 1998–1999 restoration by architect Nurlybek Bayekeyev added a 9×26 m prayer hall, so the entrance now leads through an arched gate flanked by two tall pillars. The courtyard was repaved with stone slabs and new doors fitted at that time.
The mosque's name changed after its 1998–1999 restoration: it was renamed Aulie-Ata after the founder of the medieval Karakhanid dynasty and the first name of the city of Taraz. Before that it was known as the Yunus-bay mosque, after its financier Kali Yunus Mayusulov.
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