The Enduring Enigma of Tash Rabat

“How many rooms are there in this building?” Elena, our beautiful young Kyrgy guide, posed the question as we were standing in the Great Hall of the impressive stone structure known as Tash Rabat. Tash Rabat (the name means “stone fortress” in Kyrghiz) is one of Kyrgyzstan’s best known – if least visited – attractions, and has been called the best-preserved site on the classic Silk Road of Central Asia.

From the outside, you wouldn’t imagine that the large domed building had so much interior volume. Big it is, with lovely proportions, an arched entrance and corner turrets, but the intramural capacity is not evident until you are inside. This is partly because the structure is partly set into the hillside of a verdant valley and partly because you are distracted by its heavenly backdrop — the Tian Shan range. Tian Shan means “celestial mountains” in Mandarin, and the range stretches from Kyrgyzstan to China for 1,500 miles; it peaks at more than 24,000 feet. Tash Rabat is located about 300 miles southeast of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, at an altitude of 11,500 feet.

Elena’s question seemed straightforward, so everyone in our group, the men especially, were eager to respond to her challenge. The 11 of them began to count back from the main room to the entrance. All but me. This was my second visit to Tash Rabat in less than a week so I already knew the…