Archaeology · Turtkul District

Koi Krylgan Kala

A cylindrical two-storey building 44 metres across inside a ring wall, built in the 4th–3rd centuries BCE and thought to have been a funerary temple of Khorezm’s kings.

Antiquitymil. avv. IV–III asrlar30 min1 min read

History and layout

Koi Krylgan Kala was built in the 4th–3rd centuries BCE, destroyed by Saka tribes around 200 BCE and resettled in the 3rd–4th centuries CE. Sergey Tolstov’s expedition discovered it in 1938, and it was completely excavated in 1951–1957.

At its heart stands a circular two-storey building 44 metres in diameter, ringed 14 metres away by a defensive wall, the gap later filled with houses. Researchers believe the central building served as a tomb for Khorezmian kings and as a Zoroastrian temple; its murals include scenes of wine drinking. Some scholars have suggested it was also used to observe the sky, though that remains debated.