Ak-Beshim settlement

Ak-Beshim settlement (Suyab)  is located at 6 kilometers north-west of Burana.  It is one of the cultural and economic centers of Chu valley (VI - VII centuries). The city occupied a large territory - Shakhristan (city center) with the citadel of the total area of 35 hectares, rabad (craft suburb) belonged to him, about 60 hectares. The urban area, enclosed by a thick wall from the outside, created the symbiosis of urban and rural settlements. During the excavations the remains of two Buddhist temples, Christian churches, palaces, residential tracts, irrigation networks and other attributes of the medieval architecture were found there. It is supposed that it is the initial location of the city Balasagun, subsequently overgrown to the east.