# Hilvet Underground Mosque, Turkestan > The Hilvet is a semi-underground Sufi mosque and retreat inside the Hazret Sultan reserve, a 2–3-minute walk south of the Yasawi Mausoleum. Tradition says Khoja Ahmed Yasawi withdrew underground here at 63. Allow about 20 minutes. Entry is on the reserve ticket — 5,000 ₸ for most foreign visitors. Open daily 8:00–18:30, in summer 8:00–20:00. Web page: https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/turkestan-hilvet - City: [Turkestan](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan), Kazakhstan - YesGo score: 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 20 min - With kids: Fine with kids - Ticket (foreign visitors): 5,000 ₸ - Ticket (CIS citizens): 2,000 ₸ - Kazakh citizens: 1,000 ₸ - Students and pensioners: 500 ₸ with ID - Schoolchildren: 300 ₸ with ID - Hilvet on the reserve ticket: Unofficial: yes; one travel guide mentions a small extra fee at the door - Opening hours: Daily 8:00–18:30 (since 1 September 2026) - Summer (from 1 June): Daily 8:00–20:00 - Closed: Open every day; the reserve closes on 1 January - Guided tour: Group of up to 25: 5,000 ₸ in English - Audio guide: 1,500 ₸ - Payment: Carry tenge in cash; cards are not guaranteed at the desk - Dress code: Shoulders and knees covered; headscarf for women - Location: 120–150 m south of the Yasawi Mausoleum, next to the Juma Mosque - Coordinates: 43.29610, 68.27090 - Facts checked: 02.11.2026 ## Key facts - **12th century** — the oldest part — the underground cell (gar); the rest was built between the 15th and 19th centuries (source: Hazret Sultan museum-reserve; Code of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Kazakhstan (1994); archaeology.kz) - **Age 63** — when, by tradition, Yasawi withdrew underground (some sources say 62) (source: Hazret Sultan museum-reserve; Russian Wikipedia after the Code of Monuments) - **1.5 × 1.5 m** — the gar cell, about 4 m below ground — room for one person (source: Code of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Kazakhstan; archaeology.kz; Hazret Sultan museum-reserve) - **18 rooms** — in the original complex: prayer rooms, an assembly hall, ablution rooms, a kitchen and stores (source: Hazret Sultan museum-reserve; Russian Wikipedia) - **Early 1940s** — the building was pulled down for bricks to build a butter factory (source: Hazret Sultan museum-reserve; Code of Monuments; archaeology.kz) - **A. L. Schmidt’s model** — used to rebuild it; only the gar is original (source: Hazret Sultan museum-reserve; Russian Wikipedia; archaeology.kz) - **1972–1973** — excavated by T. N. Senigova, again in 1979 by E. A. Smagulov (source: Hazret Sultan museum-reserve; Russian Wikipedia) - **1982** — listed as a monument of national significance (source: Russian Wikipedia (Kazakh SSR Council of Ministers decree No. 38); archaeology.kz) - **Balkhi vault** — an archaic square-brick vaulting technique over the cell (source: Code of Monuments; archaeology.kz; Hazret Sultan museum-reserve) - **Tashkent** — some of the carved columns are now in the Tashkent Museum of Arts (source: Code of Monuments; archaeology.kz) - **40 days** — the length of the Sufi zikr retreats held here by Yasawi’s followers (source: archaeology.kz; Hazret Sultan museum-reserve) ## Hilvet tickets: what you pay and what it covers There is no separate Hilvet price on the official tariff — entry comes with the single **Hazret Sultan reserve ticket**. Foreign visitors pay **5,000 ₸**; citizens of CIS countries pay 2,000 ₸, Kazakh citizens 1,000 ₸, students and pensioners 500 ₸ and schoolchildren 300 ₸, with ID. Unofficially, the same ticket covers the Hilvet, the Juma Mosque and the old bathhouse, though one travel guide mentions a small extra charge at the Hilvet door. An English-language tour for a group of up to 25 costs 5,000 ₸; an audio guide is 1,500 ₸. Tickets are sold officially through the Ticketon and Davai Skhodim apps. In practice, carry tenge in cash: Visa and Mastercard work widely in Kazakhstan, but you can’t count on a terminal at every desk, and Kaspi, the local payment app, needs a Kazakh bank account. ## Opening hours The reserve is **open every day**: since 1 September 2026, 8:00–18:30. Summer hours are longer — from 1 June 2026 the mausoleum, the Hilvet and the bathhouse were open 8:00–20:00. The Hilvet keeps the reserve’s hours. The reserve announces the switch-over shortly beforehand, so in spring check its latest notice. The one closing day announced for 2026 was 1 January. Come early, before the coach groups from Shymkent arrive at the mausoleum — or at midday in July, when the half-buried halls are the coolest place on the site. > **Dress for a shrine** The reserve’s visitor rules ask for covered clothing: shoulders and knees for everyone, and women should bring a headscarf. Pilgrims still come here to pray — keep your voice down and don’t photograph people at prayer. Large bags and backpacks go in the lockers at the museum entrance. ## How to get to the Hilvet 1. Get to the main entrance of the Hazret Sultan reserve on Bekzat Sattarkhanov Avenue: about 25 minutes by taxi from Hazret Sultan Airport (HSA), 10–15 minutes from the train and bus stations. 2. Walk up to the [Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/khoja-ahmed-yasawi-mausoleum) — the landmark you can’t miss. 3. From the mausoleum head south for 120–150 m, 2–3 minutes; the Hilvet is the low, flat-roofed building beside the Juma Mosque. 4. Go down the steps, show your reserve ticket and leave big bags in a locker. 5. Carry on to the [old bathhouse](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/turkestan-bathhouse) and the [Rabiya Sultan Begim Mausoleum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/rabiya-sultan-begim-mausoleum), both a few minutes’ walk away. ## What is the Hilvet? A *khilvet* (Kazakh **Qylwet**, from the Arabic *khalwa*, seclusion) is a Sufi retreat dug partly into the ground. Yasawi’s followers held forty-day zikr retreats here, pilgrims stayed round the clock, and under the floor of the little mosque lies the gar — a one-person cell where, tradition says, Yasawi spent the rest of his life after turning 63, the Prophet’s age, and wrote his *Divan-i Hikmet*. The complex worked without a break until the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1940s it was taken apart for bricks to build a butter factory; only the 12th-century gar survived. The building you see was rebuilt from architect A. L. Schmidt’s model and reworked again in the 1980s, while digs in the 1970s pinned down the 15th–16th-century layout. It is now part of the Hazret Sultan museum-reserve. A display on Islam and Sufism has been here since 1996; in 2025 the reserve opened up an excavated wing with brick foundations, big wooden troughs and kitchen pots once used to feed pilgrims. ## What to see inside - **The gar** — a 1.5 × 1.5 m cell about 4 m down, with an archaic *balkhi* brick vault and lamp niches. The only original 12th-century part. - **The prayer room** — a half-basement square about 5 m across, with a mihrab in the west wall and an eight-sided wooden column under the central beam. - **The jamagatkhana**, or assembly hall — the largest room and the only one with a window, under a clay-plastered wooden dome; the 99 names of God hang on metal plaques. - Carved wooden columns on brick bases, in what scholars call a distinct Turkestan style. - The excavated wing: old brick foundations, and huge wooden troughs and pots from the 19th-century kitchen of the Yasawi Mausoleum. - Low clay benches (sufa) along the walls where pilgrims rested, and the vent holes in the ceiling. ## Is the Hilvet worth visiting? Yes, if you are already at the Yasawi Mausoleum: it is a three-minute detour and 20 minutes underground explain better than any sign why Turkestan mattered to Sufis. Don’t expect the scale of the mausoleum — this is low ceilings, half-light and brick, and most of the building is a reconstruction. What’s real is the 12th-century cell and the idea of the retreat itself. It is not a reason to travel to Turkestan on its own. Claustrophobic, or with small children? The assembly hall is enough — only one person fits in the gar anyway. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Shoulders and knees covered, headscarf for women - [ ] Reserve ticket bought, or tenge in cash - [ ] I’ll be there before 18:30 (20:00 in summer) - [ ] Allowed 20 minutes for the Hilvet - [ ] Backpack can go in a locker - [ ] Phone on silent ## Turkestan’s shrines compared Every mausoleum and mosque in Turkestan rated by YesGo. - [Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/khoja-ahmed-yasawi-mausoleum) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · 5,000 ₸ foreigners, 2,000 ₸ CIS - [Mausoleum of Rabiya Sultan Begim](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/rabiya-sultan-begim-mausoleum) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 15 min · Yasawi zone ticket · 2,000–5,000 ₸ - [Hilvet Underground Mosque](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/turkestan-hilvet) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · 5,000 ₸ foreigners · 2,000 ₸ CIS - [Arystan Bab Mausoleum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/arystan-bab-mausoleum) — YesGo score 30/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Small fee · amount not published - [Ukasha Ata](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/ukasha-ata) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry (unofficial) ## The Hazret Sultan reserve in half a day The Yasawi Mausoleum, the underground Hilvet, the old bathhouse, the Rabiya Sultan Begim Mausoleum and the citadel walls — all on foot. 1. [Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/khoja-ahmed-yasawi-mausoleum) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · 5,000 ₸ foreigners, 2,000 ₸ CIS 2. [Hilvet Underground Mosque](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/turkestan-hilvet) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · 5,000 ₸ foreigners · 2,000 ₸ CIS 3. [Turkestan Oriental Bathhouse](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/turkestan-bathhouse) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · 5,000 ₸ foreigners · 2,000 ₸ CIS 4. [Mausoleum of Rabiya Sultan Begim](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/rabiya-sultan-begim-mausoleum) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 15 min · Yasawi zone ticket · 2,000–5,000 ₸ 5. [Turkestan Citadel Walls](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/turkestan/turkestan-citadel) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Reserve ticket: 5,000 ₸ for foreigners ## Not to be confused The Great Hilvet by the mausoleum is not the small Aulie Kumshik Ata cell about 1 km to the south-east — a separate monument with a winding corridor and a round chamber. Nor is it the new Kylue spiritual centre with an underground mosque, started in Turkestan in the early 2020s: they only share the name. ## Tips - Go straight from the Yasawi Mausoleum — it is 2–3 minutes south, and the low building is easy to walk past. - Save it for the midday heat: the half-buried halls stay cool. - Have some tenge in cash in case of a door fee or a dead card terminal. - Take the reserve’s audio guide if you want context — there are few signs inside. - Mind your head: some doorways are low. - Don’t photograph people at prayer, and don’t linger at the gar entrance — it fits one person. ## Questions ### How much is the Hilvet Underground Mosque ticket? It has no separate official price — entry is on the Hazret Sultan reserve ticket: 5,000 ₸ for foreign visitors, 2,000 ₸ for CIS citizens. Unofficially, one travel guide mentions a small extra fee at the door. ### What are the Hilvet opening hours? The same as the reserve: since 1 September 2026, daily 8:00–18:30, and 8:00–20:00 in summer. It is open every day except 1 January. ### Where is the Hilvet mosque? Inside the Hazret Sultan reserve in Turkestan, 120–150 m south of the Yasawi Mausoleum and next to the Juma Mosque — a 2–3-minute walk. ### Is the Hilvet worth visiting? If you are at the Yasawi Mausoleum anyway, yes — it takes 20 minutes and shows the Sufi retreat behind the legend. It isn’t worth a trip on its own, and most of the building is a reconstruction. ### Did Khoja Ahmed Yasawi really live underground? That is the tradition: at 63 he withdrew into the cell and stayed there for the rest of his life. There is no document to prove it, but the gar itself does date from the 12th century, Yasawi’s time. ### How long do you need at the Hilvet? About 20 minutes. With the Yasawi Mausoleum, the bathhouse and the Rabiya Sultan Begim Mausoleum, the reserve takes half a day. ### What should I wear? Cover your shoulders and knees; women should bring a headscarf. It is in the reserve’s rules, and people still pray here. ### Can I go down into Yasawi’s cell? The gar is a 1.5 × 1.5 m room about 4 m down, reached by a spiral stair from the prayer room. Whether you can go down is up to the attendants — be ready to look from above. ### How do I get to the Hilvet? Take a taxi or city bus to the main reserve entrance on Bekzat Sattarkhanov Avenue (about 25 minutes from the airport), then walk south past the Yasawi Mausoleum. ## How we checked Prices and the dress code come from the official Hazret Sultan reserve website; hours from its notice of 28 August 2026 (8:00–18:30 from 1 September) and its summer notice of 1 June 2026, which names the Hilvet (Kylue) directly. The visitor rules and the site footer still say 9:00–18:00; we show the latest notice. Whether the Hilvet is on the main ticket isn’t stated officially: one guide says it is included, another mentions a fee at the door, so we show both and mark it “checking”. The reserve gives the distance from the mausoleum as both 120 m and 140 m, Wikipedia 150 m, so we say 120–150 m. Dating of the later rooms differs (15th–16th century in the Code of Monuments, 15th–17th on the reserve site). The year of Schmidt’s model is given as 1941 or 1942, so we leave it out. The age of 63 is the tradition; some sources say 62. Card payment is based on general information about Kazakhstan and was not checked at the reserve desk. ## Sources - Hazret Sultan museum-reserve (Әзірет Сұлтан): official price list (annex 25 to the order of the Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan, 4 July 2025, No. 307-NK), visitor rules and ticket pages, 02.11.2026 - Hazret Sultan museum-reserve: notices on summer hours from 01.06.2026, on hours from 01.09.2026 (28.08.2026) and on the 1 January 2026 closure - Hazret Sultan museum-reserve: “Underground complex Kylue, 12th–15th–19th centuries”, “Aulie Kumchik Ata underground cell”, Kylue exhibition page, article on the Kylue excavations - Code of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Kazakhstan, vol. 1, Chimkent Region, 1994 — “Great Khilvet” (via Russian Wikipedia) - archaeology.kz: Hilvet or underground mosque of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (after the KazSRIC album, 2018) - Wikidata Q12576534; Kazakh Wikipedia: Қылует - Forbes Kazakhstan and Tengrinews — on the new Kylue spiritual centre - A Social Nomad and Bucketlistly travel guides — what the reserve ticket covers (unofficial) --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.