Shakh Fazil

Shown within Kyrgyzstan
Location	Safedbulan, Jalal-Abad Region
Region	Kyrgyzstan
Coordinates	41°25′44″N 71°39′33″E / 41.42889°N 71.65917°E / 41.42889; 71.65917
Type	Archaeological Complex
History
Founded	1050-60
Designation	UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

The Shakh Fazil Archaeological Complex is located in the village Safedbulan, Jalal-Abad Region of Kyrgyzstan. It is a sacred Muslim site, and an annual mass pilgrimage occurs here. The name of the main building in many scholarly sources is the Tomb of Shah Fadl, and this is a major Qarakhanid tomb probably built between 1050–1060.

Site description

The collection of sites is made up of the Shakh Fazil Mausoleum, Safed-Bulan Mausoleum, the holy mountain of Archa Mazar, Alamberdar Mausoleum, holy hermit's cave, an 18th/19th-century Mosque, and vertical stone phallos.^[1] The mausoleum of Shakh Fazil, the most important site in the collection, is unique in its own right and stands apart from other Karakhanid-era mausolea.

World Heritage status

This site was added as an individual entry to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List of Kyrgyzstan on January 29, 2001 in the Cultural category.^[1] The individual enty was removed from the list in 2010, and Shakh Fazil was instead included in the serial entry "Silk Roads Sites in Kyrgyzstan".^[2]