Navekat or Nevkat was an ancient

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

city that flourished between the 6th and 12th centuries. It lies near the modern village of

Krasnaya Rechka Krasnaya Rechka (russian: Кра́сная Ре́чка) is the name of several rural localities in Russia: * Krasnaya Rechka, Republic of Karelia, a village in Kondopozhsky District of the Republic of Karelia * Krasnaya Rechka, Kirov Oblast, a ...

, in the

Chüy Valley The Chüy Valley ( ky, Чүй өрөөнү, Chüy Öröönü; kz, Шу аңғары, Şu añğary; russian: Чуйская долина) is a large valley located in northern Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan, in the northern part of the Tian Sh ...

, present-day

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

, about 30 kilometers east of

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

. It was one of the most important trading centres of the region. Navekat was inscribed on the

UNESCO World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2014 as a part of the site " Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor".

Archaeological site

Navekat had two walls: the first around Shahristan, the traditional administrative center of this type of city; the second wall was more than 18 kilometers long with public buildings, markets, gardens and even farms inside. There was a

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

in the North-eastern part of the city, which was built on a massive earthen platform. The volume of this platform was about 13 million cubic meters; probably the largest man-made mound in the world. During archaeological excavations the artifacts uncovered included a golden burial mask, an 8 meter-long reclining

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

statue in the one of the two Buddhist temples. There were other artifacts showing the presence of Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Nestorians, Manicheans.

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Kyrgyzstan Populated places along the Silk Road Chüy Region Former populated places in Kyrgyzstan Невакет

Archaeological site

See also

References