Beside the UNESCO complex, the Kazakh government has reconstructed a large caravanserai in the historic style of the Silk Road waystation that once served pilgrims and merchants passing through Turkestan. The reconstruction is ambitious — a courtyard complex with arched galleries, stalls, and craft workshops — and is part of a broader effort to turn Turkestan into a cultural destination as well as a pilgrimage site.
The result is mixed: the craftsmanship is good and the scale is impressive, but the newness is conspicuous next to the genuine antiquity of the mausoleum. That said, the caravanserai gives the UNESCO complex a context it previously lacked. Craft stalls sell traditional Kazakh textiles, felts, and metalwork. It is a reasonable place to spend an hour, and more honest than it first appears: there was genuinely a major caravanserai here during the Silk Road era.