Ayaz Qala, a photo from Nukus, West

Photographer's Note

"Copyright © – Attila Szili.
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."

A "qala" is a fortress built of mud that served as an ancient citadel. There are a lot of ruins littering the Kyzyl Kum desert and the Karakalpak Republic. The most accessible fortresses are located in southeastern Karakalpakistan, about an hour north of Urgench.
The Ayaz Qala complex is composed of 3 monuments:
- Ayaz Qala 1, a defensive refuge dating from the 4th or early 3rd century BC, located on the top of a flat hill,
- Ayaz Qala 2, a feudal fort probably dating from the 6th to the 8th century AD, and
- Ayaz Qala 3, a fortified garrison and refuge, mainly dating from the 1st to 2nd centuries AD.

Much more infos here.

satyakki, Vato_Law, Clementi, brandstaetter has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

grigand (17797) 2009-12-05 4:56

Ciao Attila,
Bentornato con una stupenda immagine, decisamente più verde di quella che ricordo io vista a ad agosto'08; è unn luogo veramente affascinante.
ciao
andrea

papagolf21 (70568) 2009-12-05 5:00

Bonjour, cher Attila,
Je suis très heureux de revoir vos photographies. Ici, c'est un véritable cadeau offert au site de TE !
Magique, superbe, magnifique, les mots sont insuffisants pour exprimer la beauté présentée à travers cette composition.
Un grand merci.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Buin (41932) 2009-12-05 5:23

Hallo Attila!
Nice to "see" you again ;-) You show us here a very special and interesting place here - a landscape to marvel. These buildings - even as ruins - are so impressive and they seem to be grown out of the soil. Especially for aggressors this must have been an unbelievable sight!
Greetings from cold and rainy Germany! Have a wonderful Advent time!
Frank

Vato_Law (12618) 2009-12-05 10:56

Hello Attila.
even if i'm not here so frequently as you too it seems, I can recognize instantly your work for its originality and for its value as a TE shot.
Nice note to make us understand about what you are showing in the photo.
Really interesting to see how these mud constructions resist the years passing without falling apart.
Hope everything's fine with you.
Cheers.
Paulo

Clementi (52479) 2009-12-05 14:52

Ciao Attila,
ti fai vedere sempre di rado, ma quando lo fai ci mostri sempre paesaggi straordinari come questo.
ti auguro un buon fine settimana
Giorgio

Gerrit (43079) 2009-12-05 18:12

Hi Attila,
impressive desolate spot. Excellent composition in good light.
regards, Gerrit

brandstaetter (15907) 2009-12-06 6:14

Ciao Attila,

the remoteness and the unknown cultural background is what attracting me here. Without you we´d rarely had the chance to know something about it...thanks for the link.
Hope you´re OK, Christian

PixelTerror (96880) 2009-12-06 8:42

Szia Attila
Still busy with the most remote parts of Earth I see, OK this one is from archives, nice fortress but a picture quality affected by the hard light, looks well preserved given the age
have a nice day JY

lestans (16682) 2009-12-06 9:02

Ciao Attila!!
Come va? vedo che anche tu recuperi una foto non recentissima, e però interessantissima.
Ciao!!
Livia

Graal (82134) 2009-12-13 23:51

Jó napot Attila,
unusual place and view. Good presentation. Well photojob. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander