Old gravestone on the necropolises in Shakpak-Ata. Mangystau province, Kazakhstan / Alamy

Mausoleum of Baba-Ata / wildticketasia

Karakhan Mausoleum, Taraz, Kazakhstan / Alamy

White ribbons left by the believers at the mausoleum of Ukasha Ata / Alamy

The 21-meter long gravestone of Ukasha Ata, the legendary bodyguard of Prophet Mohammed / Alamy

The sacred site of Gaiyp Eren Kyryk Shilten / titus.kz

Khoja Ahmed Yasawi mausoleum, Azret Sultan, Turkestan, Kazakhstan / Education Images / Universal Images Group / Getty Images

Gauhar Ana mausoleum, Turkistan, Kazakhstan / Alamy

City of Turkestan. Main niche in the mausoleum leading to the tomb of Saint Sultan Akhmed Iassavi / Library of Congress

Shopan Ata Mosque. Photo by Yakov Fedorov / Wikimedia Commons

Beket-Ata Underground Mosque, Mangystau, Kazakhstan / Alamy

Shakpak-Ata Mosque, along with Shopan Ata and Beket Ata, is one of the many sacred sites of the Mangystau region. Photo by Yakov Fedorov. 2018 / Wikimedia Commons

Statue of Baidibek Bi. Shymkent / Alamy

Khan-Tengri peak and Tuzkol lake / Alamy

Aulietas Sacred Stone / greenway.kz

Auliebastau Spring. Photo by Yakov Fedorov, 2020 / Wikimedia Commons

The Zhumbaktas Rock and Lake Burabay are among the sacred and mystical places of Northern Kazakhstan, shrouded in legends and folklore / Alamy

A woman tying a wish ribbon on a tree near Burabay. This votive ritual of offering a ribbon or piece of cloth to higher powers, is performed at trees and bushes growing in sacred places / Alamy

Noah's Ark on Mount Kazygurt / shymkentsweettexas.com

A belt adorned with «arkhar muiz» (ram's horn) pattern from the exhibition of the Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan / Qalam

Ethnic style jewelry with an amulet-tumar and the pattern "arkar muiz" (horn of a mountain ram – arhar). Street Style VFW Almaty Season 10, Almaty, Kazakhstan. October 16, 2024, Almaty. Photo by Raimonda Kulikauskiene / Getty Images

The spring of Koshkar Ata River, Shymkent / shymkentsweettexas.com

Grave of a saint in the steppe. Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii / Library of Congress