Ghazni's surviving monuments mostly date from before the Mongol sack of 1221, when the city was already in decline. The two Minarets of Ghazni — the brick towers of Mas'ud III and Bahram Shah — stand on the open plain outside the old town, the last upright remains of the great Ghaznavid summer capital. The walled Citadel still dominates the centre, much rebuilt over the centuries but with a continuous medieval lineage. The shrine of Sultan Mahmud at Rauza, three kilometres outside the city, is the most-visited tomb in the region.
The Ghazni Museum of Islamic Art, when open, holds one of the most important collections of early Ghaznavid carved marble panels and stuccowork to survive. Most of the city's old bazaar burned down or was demolished in the wars of the last 40 years, but the central streets still have a working covered market.