The nomadic peoples of the Middle East and Central Asia have settled in yurts since ancient times. Portable dwellings that could be assembled and disassembled suited their lifestyle perfectly. For the inhabitants of the steppe, yurts became not just a home, they acquired a sacred meaning. And the decoration of portable houses is a clear example of the folk and applied arts of nomads.

The word “yurt” itself means “people” in Turkish. In Kyrgyz etymology, “ata-zhurt” can literally be translated as “father’s house.” Among other nomadic Asian peoples, this word means approximately the same thing.

Many people wonder why the shape of the yurt is always round. Scientists are trying to find the answer in the beliefs of nomadic people. The circle has a sacred meaning, and the construction of a yurt personifies the model of the creation of the world among ancient peoples: the carpet on the floor is grass on the ground, the dome symbolizes the sky, the shanyrak (a wooden rim with a convex lattice inside, located in the center of the dome) is the sun, and the sliding walls (kerege) are the cardinal directions.

But if we turn to a practical point of view, the choice of the round shape of the yurt is determined by the place where it is installed. The winds always blow in the steppe, and a dwelling of such a streamlined shape can withstand any hurricane.

Curiously, setting up a yurt is a woman’s task. The men only took part in lifting the heavy rim. For experienced housewives, the construction of a home took about a month, and it could stand for decades.

If the outside of the yurts of different nations are very similar to each other, then by the interior and decoration it was possible to immediately determine which nation the dwelling belonged to.

The interior decor of the yurts consisted of a velvet or silk cover (for rich families), the walls and floors were covered with felt carpets. In addition to their practical purpose (insulating the house), carpets with intricate patterns turned the yurt into a kind of colorful carpet gallery.

Internal structure of the Kazakh yurt
1. Shanyrak
2. Dome poles
3. Woven tapes for fastening the frame
4. Lattice frame of the yurt
5. Chest
6. Covering the walls of the yurt with felt
7. woven carpet
8. Felt carpet
9. Felt carpet
10. Home
11. Wooden bed
12. Wall carpet
13. Door
14. Felt covering shanyrak
15. Tapes holding felt covering
16. Felt covering of the dome

The Kyrgyz had a smaller yurt next to their main dwelling. Food supplies were stored there. If wealthy men had two or three wives, then each of them had a separate yurt. Temporary housing was set up for guests.

Starting from the 19th century, nomadic peoples began to switch to a sedentary lifestyle. Today, yurts can be seen in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Altai. They are used by pastoralists. In Mongolia, yurts are used as summer cottages, because the microclimate inside them is much more comfortable than in brick houses. In addition, hotels and restaurants began to be located in yurts. Tourists are happy to stay in yurts to feel the flavor of nomadic life.

The peoples of Central Asia do not forget about their traditions and origins. It is for this purpose that these competitions are organized in Kyrgyzstan and are distinguished by their originality and uniqueness.

The development of industry and the socialist transformation of agriculture gave rise to modern cities and large settlements. According to the census of the Mongolian People's Republic on January 5, 1963, 40.8% of the country's population lives in cities and urban-type settlements. This fact speaks of great changes that have occurred during the years of people's power in the way of life of the Mongols. The life of the Mongolian people is changing as a result of changes in the economic structure. Currently, not only cities and aimak and soum centers, but also estates of state farms, machine-livestock stations and agricultural associations are becoming points of residence. In the Mongolian steppes, permanent settlements are being created, even in agricultural brigades.

Buildings in villages are built depending on local conditions from brick, stone, wood and other materials produced by the construction industry. Marble and granite are widely used as facing materials. In the northern regions of the country, where there is a lot of forest, houses are often built from wood, while in the eastern, southern and western regions other materials (stone, brick, etc.) are predominantly used. Local materials are also used, such as reeds, adobe, etc. In the Kerulensky state farm, the village is built from stone and adobe houses. Reed is widely used as a building material here. There are several enterprises producing standard houses.

The architecture of new buildings successfully uses the traditions of national architecture. Although, as is known, there were almost no cities in pre-revolutionary Mongolia, the country had its own cities in earlier periods of its history. Archaeological excavations carried out on the ruins of ancient cities of Mongolia by Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences S.V. Kiselev, as well as research by Mongolian scientists, provided interesting material on the history of the cities of Mongolia in the 13th-14th centuries. Relying on local traditions, as well as using elements of Chinese and Tibetan architecture, medieval architects talentedly solved the problems of ensemble and architectural composition.

Currently, modern buildings are being built in cities and large towns. They are designed by Mongolian architects, taking into account the experience of architects of the USSR and other countries of the socialist community of nations. The design is carried out by the architectural and planning department of the capital. Construction work is carried out by the main construction department. When designing residential and especially public buildings, the traditions of ancient national architecture are used. Rich Mongolian ornaments are used for the exterior decoration of modern buildings and interiors (as, for example, for the decoration of the Sukhbaatar House Museum).

In Mongolia, cities and towns look different in appearance, depending on the time of foundation and location. Aimak and somon centers, as mentioned above, were built anew or by reconstructing settlements near former large monasteries.

In the western regions of the country (for example, in Bayan-Ulegey, where mainly Kazakhs live), along with modern stone buildings, there are typical Kazakh houses made of adobe, with flat adobe roofs and adobe fences - duvals. The Central Asian influence is noticeable here. In the Khubsugul aimag, in the village of Khatkhyl, located close to the Russian border, log houses of the Russian type are common. In some places in Mongolia, adobe huts - Chinese fanzes - still remain.

In the eastern regions, where the Buryats and Khamnigans live, there are summer wooden buildings (zukalangai ger). These summer dwellings are rectangular plank buildings with a sloping roof. A cut is made in the middle of the roof to allow the pipe to come out, which also serves as a light source. The door of the dwelling, like in the yurt, faces south. Just like in the Mongolian yurt, the eastern (right) half is considered female, the western (left) - male. The order of arrangement of things in the summer and winter dwellings is the same as the arrangement of things in the Mongolian yurt. A distinctive feature of Buryat dwellings is the presence of fireplaces made of clay, in which they bake bread and various cookies according to the Russian model.

It is interesting that residents of cities and stationary villages still put up many felt yurts (they are modernized and often factory-made, there is a wooden floor laid inside and the furnishings are the same as in apartments). This is explained by the Mongol habit of living in yurts. Some people, especially old people, do not move to comfortable apartments, but build or purchase yurts, explaining this by the fact that the houses are damp.

The life of a Mongolian city dweller or a settled resident of a modern rural area differs from the life of a pre-revolutionary nomadic herder. The light bulb, radio and telephone became firmly established in the life of the sedentary Mongolian. The apartments now have comfortable, factory-produced urban furniture. The design of the furniture is stylized and ornamented in the national style, and in apartments there are often low Mongolian tables along with European furniture. In household utensils, there is also a mixture of purchased European items with traditional Mongolian ones. What is new is that the apartments now have tulle on the windows, and various carpets on the walls, including those woven like tapestries. Radios, sewing machines, bicycles, motorcycles and even cars are firmly part of Mongolian life. It is important that baths are built in every locality. The nomad, who in the old days did not wash his whole life, now regularly visits the public bath.

Despite important changes in everyday life, the yurt in the conditions of transhumance livestock farming remains a comfortable dwelling, the most adapted to local conditions. This ancient dwelling, tested by centuries of folk experience, is indispensable for livestock farmers who move from one place to another. Lightness, stability, portability, the ability to quickly assemble or disassemble it - these are the advantages and conveniences of a yurt. Previously, two or three pack camels were used to transport a yurt.

The modern Mongolian yurt is much improved, although the shape and design remain the same. In Ulaanbaatar and other places, the bars of modern yurts are made high (unlike the old ones). Most yurts have wooden floors, although many yurts still have felt carpets or skins laid on the ground instead of wooden floors. Now they began to cover the yurt on top of the felt with a waterproof factory-made cover. The covers are usually white. It is known that since ancient times the Mongols have revered white as a sacred color. The inside walls of many yurts began to be covered with colored material decorated with national ornaments.

The frame of a felt yurt consists of wooden, folding bars, which are called khan by the Eastern Mongols, and terems by the Western Mongols. The grids are placed in a circle. The size of the yurt depends on the number of bars. There are from 4 to 12 of them (the average size of a yurt is: diameter 4-5 m, height in the center about 3 m). A cone-shaped roof is attached to the gratings, consisting of thin sticks (uni), resting with one end on the gratings and the other on a wooden circle, which also serves as a smoke hole. The circle, like the lattice walls, has different names among the Mongols in different places. Among the Khalkhas and Buryats it is called Tono, and among the Derbet and Bayts it is called Kharaachi. In the northeastern aimaks of the Mongolian People's Republic, the circle is called syrkhinik-ton. It differs from others in that it has uni permanently attached with hinges, so it takes less time to install. The circle is equipped with mutually crossed crosspieces, rising above its plane, and the arrangement of the crosspieces varies among individual ethnic groups. The uni, which forms a cone-shaped roof, differs from those in the yurts of the Turkic peoples. Similar sticks of the Turkic type can be observed in the homes of the Kazakhs living in the western part of the Mongolian People's Republic. Unlike straight Mongolian uni, Kazakh ones have a convex shape and thereby give the Kazakh yurt a hemispherical shape. The design of doors also differs between Mongols and Kazakhs. The Mongolian yurt has wooden double doors, according to ancient custom, usually facing south (among the Khalkha Mongols) and southeast (among the western branch of the Mongols). On the outside, among the Mongols, quilted felt is hung over the wooden door, while among the Turks, the door is closed only with felt, which falls like a curtain from above. Mongolian yurts are entirely covered with felt, and Turkic ones are covered with felt and a reed mat. The frame of the Mongolian yurt is covered with felt blankets, in two rows in winter, and in one row in summer, and tied with hair ropes (geriin bus). The summer tire usually does not reach the ground, which makes it possible to ventilate the yurt through the exposed lattice. In winter, for insulation, the bottom of the yurt is covered from the outside with a long, half-meter wide strip of felt (khayavch). Sometimes these edges come with a quilted geometric design.

A square felt cover (vrkhv) is placed over the smoke circle (tono), to the ends of which hair ropes are attached. Using the erhe, you can close the smoke hole at night or in case of rain. During the day, the tono is usually not completely covered and serves to allow daylight to penetrate. Currently, in some yurts glass is inserted into the tono. In other cases, glazed windows are also made in the doors. A combination of both can also be observed.

Uni and tono are often painted with bright red paint, but hans are not painted. The door is also usually painted in various shades of red. The outer part of the door is decorated with various paintings.

In settled areas one can sometimes observe changes in the material and in the very shape of the yurt. It ceased to be collapsible; its lattice walls were replaced by boards, logs, and bricks. A foundation and various extensions and superstructures appeared. The lattice yurt, which was round in plan, became polygonal or square; its conical top is pyramidal; Support posts appeared inside it, allowing the construction of a heavier roof.

Inside the yurt there was a fireplace in the middle. The smoking hearth used to be the main source of heat and light; Currently, the Mongols usually install round iron stoves on the site of the hearth. The pipes go out into the upper opening of the yurt - tono. However, in some places, next to the stove you can see an iron stand for the boiler - tagan (tulga). It consists of 3 or 4 iron legs surrounded by iron hoops. The lower ends of the legs are slightly bent outward for stability, and the upper ends are bent inward so that they can serve as supports for the boiler. In derbet, byt and zakhchin, instead of an iron tagan, in some places there are semicircular adobe walls (zuukh) approximately 30-40 cm high, which surround the hearth without covering it. In the Gobi regions they use hearths made of clay and stones. The fuel is usually argal - dry cow or horse dung. Usually a basket with argal is placed between the shelves with dishes and the fireplace, and sometimes the argal is poured directly onto the floor in front of the fireplace. The preference for argal over firewood is explained not only by the lack of firewood in many areas, but also by the fact that the smoke from argal is not so pungent. In the hearth, the argal is placed in a circle inside the tagan, otherwise it will not burn well. Previously, when there were no stoves, the yurt was constantly filled with smoke.

The right half of the entrance (eastern) is considered the host’s, “female”, the side opposite the entrance is considered the most honorable - guests are usually seated here.

Great changes have occurred in the interior of the modern Mongolian yurt. In almost all yurts you can find comfortable urban furniture: special low tables and chairs, sideboards, chests, usually ornamented, nickel-plated beds, factory-made blankets and bedspreads, shelves with books and other things. In urban yurts, as well as in many rural ones, items such as electric heaters, radios and bookshelves have become common household items. You can often see a small home library in an arata family. However, along with this, certain traditional features of life are preserved in rural areas. This is evidenced by the arrangement of furniture inside the yurt and individual household items. To the right of the entrance, as before, there are shelves and cabinets with household utensils, boxes with provisions, the owners' bed and Mongolian ornamented chests (avdar) with household property. To the left of the entrance, on the “male” half, there are stands with leather vessels for kumiss and fermented milk. Saddles, harnesses and hunting accessories are also stored here. Sometimes during the cold season small lambs and calves are tied in this half. In yurts, sometimes a bed is sometimes placed in the left half, but either honored guests or older family members sleep on it. Part of the family, as before, is placed on felt mats around the hearth.

Many arats have a Mongolian bed (oron); This is a collapsible frame no higher than 30-40 cm, on which boards are laid. The front side of the bed is always painted and painted with geometric patterns. The pattern most often found in the ornament is lzy (“thread of happiness”).

Felt bedding is placed on the bed. Despite the availability of purchased pillows, some Mongols use fabric or felt rollers stuffed with wool as pillows, with the end of the pillow facing the wall being round, and the opposite end having a quadrangular shape, which is given to the pillow using a wooden plank inserted inside the roller. The quadrangular end of the pillow is sheathed with velvet or some other material. Metal plaques are sewn onto the fabric. Among the Uzumchins who came from China, instead of plaques, large metal plates with images of dragons are observed.

On the floor of the yurt around the fireplace there is felt, quilted with threads of camel hair. It is called shirdek. Folded in half, it should always face the edges towards the hearth. On top of the shirdek, the floor is often covered with animal skins. Felt bedding on the bed is not quilted and is called esgiy, or eisgiy, which means “simple felt.”

Men usually sit on the floor according to the traditional Mongolian custom, with their legs tucked under them, or on their left leg, resting on their right knee. It is considered indecent for a woman to sit like a man, that is, with her legs curled up. She sits with her right leg tucked under her and leans on the knee of her left leg.

Mongolian arats - livestock breeders and farmers use tents (maihaps) in the summer. During Nadan, the Mongolian national holiday, maykhans are especially popular. Mongolian tents are usually six-sloped and in most cases decorated on the outside with beautiful ornaments (altan-khee, vlazi, etc.) * Around the yurt there are fences for livestock, pegs with stretched ropes for tying calves and lambs, hitching posts for riding horses and carts (in the eastern and central regions).

The felt yurt is well adapted to nomadic life. It is highly portable; when moving from place to place, it can be within 30-40 minutes. folded or put back.

The most ancient form of the Mongolian dwelling is the obhoha - a cone-shaped dwelling.

The wallpaper consists of a tono and a uni inserted into it. The top, just like the yurt, is covered with felt. Obokhoya as a permanent dwelling is no longer found; sometimes it is used as storage for household items. More often it is used by shepherds or caravan guides in the cold season.

A yurt (ger) is a traditional Mongolian dwelling. Before the people's revolution in Mongolia (1921-1924), the bulk of the population lived in yurts. And now yurts are widespread, especially among rural residents. After all, the Mongols have always been nomadic pastoralists and remain so to this day. Many of them live in yurts, not belonging to any locality and without registration. However, yurts are also common in cities and even in the capital Ulaanbaatar.

Construction of a Mongolian yurt

A felt yurt is ideal for nomadic life. It can be rolled up in about an hour and transferred using simple transport to a new location. The yurt unfolds just as quickly.

A yurt consists of a wooden frame and a felt covering (sometimes in two layers), over which fabric can be wound to protect the felt from rain and snow. The yurt can have supports inside, and its entire structure is tightened around with belts that are secured on the sides of the door.

Previously, the entrance was made of quilted felt, but now doors are mostly used. In cold winter times, a warm wooden vestibule can be attached to the entrance. There are no windows in the yurt; light enters the dwelling through a round hole in the center of the roof (tono) and through an open door in the summer.

Traditionally, the entrance to the yurt faces south. With the help of a ray of sunlight penetrating the door, the Mongols determined the time. Now this tradition is little followed, the main thing is that the entrance is conveniently located for the family.

There is nothing superfluous in the yurt; everything has a strict purpose. The area of ​​the yurt is used very economically and rationally.

There is a stove in the center of the yurt. Thanks to its round shape, heat is distributed evenly throughout the home.

The eastern part of the yurt is considered female, and the western part is considered male. The women's section contains dishes and chests with fabric, clothing and jewelry, and the men's section stores tools, saddles and hunting equipment.

Customs and rules of conduct in a Mongolian yurt

1. You cannot enter the yurt without the owner’s invitation.
2. Do not enter the yurt quietly. It is necessary to raise your voice to notify the owners
3. It is not customary to say hello across the threshold
4. The threshold of the yurt is a symbol of family well-being. You can't step on it or sit on it.
5. Don't whistle in the yurt, this is a signal that summons evil spirits
6. You cannot give the fire of the hearth to another yurt.
7. Do not enter the yurt with an empty dish or shovel. According to Mongolian signs, empty dishes are bad luck, and a shovel is a sign of death
8. During a feast, guests are not allowed to change places

The largest Mongolian yurt in the world

The largest yurt, built using Mongolian technologies, is located in the tourist complex “Genghis Khan’s Headquarters”. This complex is owned by the direct descendants of the great conqueror.

Wise and practical steppe dwellers invented a comfortable and cozy mobile home - a yurt. Even today, this faithful companion of the nomad is not only an interesting example of material culture, but also a comfortable home. We'll tell you what the inside of a yurt consists of and what types there are.

Kazakh yurt inside

The steppe is wide and vast. Sometimes it seems that it has no end or edge. A tired traveler will find the only reliable shelter in the steppe - a yurt, where he will not only be allowed to rest, but will also be provided with safety, fed and entertained with songs.

What does the yurt consist of inside? The decoration of the yurt reflected the people’s specific idea of ​​the universe. All interior items of the yurt had symbolic and magical meaning. The arrangement of such a dwelling testified to the wealth of the family and its place in the tribe.

For the most part, modern Kazakhs - owners of such nomadic structures - strive to preserve the authenticity of the interior decoration.

Let's look at what a yurt looks like inside to get an idea of ​​the traditions and customs of the Kazakhs:

1. The walls of the yurt were covered with carpets.
2. Where the kerege (a special lattice structure of sections) and the shanyrak (top) meet, a strip of fabric was laid on which Kazakh geometric patterns were embossed. It's called baskur. Those who find themselves in the middle of the yurt immediately pay attention to this motley and bright strip of fabric.
3. Special cotton blankets and rugs (tekemet and korpeshe) were placed on the floor. For the comfort of guests, they offered pillows: hard ones (zherzhastyk) for visitors of humble origin and pillows stuffed with feathers (kuszhastyk, kopshik) for honored guests.
4. Along the edges there were chests on which mountains of pillows and blankets were laid out.
5. To the right of the entrance there was a chest or collapsible cabinet, which served as a buffet. Tableware and tea utensils were stored on it: a samovar, tobacco - a dish for meat, basins, a vessel with a thin spout for water - kumgan, charu. Torsuks were hung above it, containing the life-giving drinks of the steppe inhabitants - kumiss and ayran.
6. To the left of the entrance, clothes, traveling bags, horse harness, and hunting weapons were placed on the walls. There were also various personal items: jewelry, women's clothing, towels. In addition, to the left of the entrance there was a place for birds of prey.
7. A fireplace was installed in the center of the yurt. Here a cauldron was hung on a tripod, under which a fire was lit and food was prepared in this way. The smoke came out directly into the shanyrak hole.
8. Along the walls in yurts, as described by researchers of the 19th century, there were wooden loungers - beds. Occasionally there were even iron ones. The owners' bed was placed to the right of the hearth, and unmarried daughters and sisters were placed to the left.
9. Ribbons and tassels - shashak bau - hung from the shanyrak. They personified stars and constellations, drove away evil spirits and attracted good ones.

Kazakh yurt: types

The white yurt in the green grass of the steppe is a special symbol of Kazakhstan. Tourists, in search of a special unity with nature, trying to learn more about the culture of the Kazakhs, are happy to stay overnight in such exotic houses of nomads.

At the same time, a yurt in the steppe is also a modern home for shepherds and geologists. The Kazakh yurt is a special type of mobile home. Thanks to its design, it is easy to assemble and disassemble, and can be easily transported across the steppe on camels or horses. The yurt can be assembled at any time to shelter from the scorching sun or to warm up on a cold autumn or winter day.

This design, its modifications and interior decoration are signs of the high level of material culture of the Kazakhs, their ideas about the world and man.

Yurts are an old invention of nomads. Their prototypes are covered carts, tents on wheels, which moved across the steppe, accompanying the transitions of nomads who were looking for new pastures, or trade caravans.

In the process of many years of operation of such mobile homes, certain types of yurts have been formed, which are classified according to the main principle - according to their purpose.

There are the following main types of yurts:

1. Housing. They are built according to the type of Kipchak yurts, which, unlike Mongolian tents, had a higher dome. It was more resistant to snow drifts, strong winds, hurricanes and storms.
2. Festive or ceremonial(an үy, an horda, boz үy, otau үy) - a large yurt consisting of more than 10 lattice sections. It was distinguished by the fact that snow-white felt was used in its equipment; the design details were decorated with carvings and woven felt flies with patterns.
3. Pokhodnaya was the smallest - 3-4 sections. It had a cone-shaped appearance, which was created by poles tied at the top. At the bottom they were also tied with a rope and dug into the ground.

In addition, there are special mobile structures that perform auxiliary functions:

• necessary things and supplies are stored in warehouse yurts;
• Food is prepared in camp kitchens.

There is such a riddle in Kazakh folklore:

One fleecy carpet

In addition to them there is felt.

Oops! - I exclaimed

And ascended to heaven,

Twisted, walked,

He established the firmament of the earth!

It presents cosmogonic ideas about the world, which is identified with the yurt. Therefore, all its components had magical meaning.

The yurt inside is the embodiment of creative potential, craving for beauty, and mystical ideas of Kazakhs about the world. Everything about it is functional and designed for transition. This is a cozy and comfortable home where guests are always welcome.

The yurt is probably the most famous dwelling of nomads to Russian people. We all remember from school that it was in such dwellings that the Tatar-Mongols lived, who did not allow the Russian princes to sleep peacefully.

A yurt is a national dwelling among the Turkic and Mongolian peoples, having a frame base and covered with felt.

The word "jurt" has a common meaning among the Turks - "people" and pasture. In the Kyrgyz and Kazakh languages, "Ata-Jurt" is translated as "Fatherland". The actual synonym for yurt among the Mongolians can be considered the word “house”. From the Tuvan language, where the word yurt sounds like “eg”, when adding the ending “-bule” to it, yurt will mean “family”.

Yurts are an ancient type of dwelling that appeared during the so-called Late Bronze Age (13-9 centuries BC). According to some historians, the ancestors of modern yurts were the houses of Andronovo residents. But this fact can be questioned, since these dwellings resembled log huts. It is possible that yurts began to be built later - in the 8th-5th centuries BC. e. You can see the first ancient yurts on figurines of Northern China, dated to the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The history of the development of this type of dwelling can be traced back to the 13th century in miniatures by the Chinese, Central Asians, Iranians and Turks.

Turkish and Mongolian yurts have some differences. Kazakh and Turkmen yurts have double doors made of wood; the Akirgyz often use a felt curtain as a door. The Kazakh yurts are lower than those of the Kyrgyz, because the Kazakhs install them in the steppe, where there are strong winds. Rock paintings provide insight into the structure of ancient yurts. It follows from them that the ancient housing of nomads was a tent divided into left and right sides. Nowadays, yurts are widely used in tourist recreation. Such dwellings have luxurious decoration.

For a nomad, a yurt is comfortable and practical housing. In an hour, a family can easily assemble or disassemble their home. The yurt is easy to transport, regardless of the type of transport. The fiberglass covering protects from rain, wind, and cold. Daylight enters the home through a gap at the top of the dome; in addition, this opening makes it possible to use the fireplace. The structure of the dwelling is quite simple - it consists of lattice folding walls, poles that make up the dome, a circle with which the poles are attached to the top and a felt mat that covers the entire structure. The yurt is still popular among Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Mongolian livestock farmers. This is perhaps the only home in which you can regulate lighting and ventilation. The smoke from the fireplace does not remain in the room, it goes into the tundyuk - the opening of the dome. During the day, the hole is a window through which sunlight enters the home, and at night it can be easily closed. In hot weather, the side of the felt can be raised. In this case, the yurt will be well ventilated, and people will be cool and in the shade.

Among the Mongols, the entrance to the yurt is always in the south. The north side is considered special and important - there is an altar. The northern side also welcomes honored guests. The center of the yurt is occupied by a fireplace.

The inside of the yurt is divided into two sides. Among the Mongols, the eastern side is feminine, and the western side is masculine. The hosts' bed is located on the men's side, closer to the exit. This part of the yurt is decorated with the man's weapons and talismans. On the eastern side of the dwelling is the bed of the owner's daughter. Closer to the door there is usually a cupboard with dishes and a mortar for beating kumys, which is considered a symbol of prosperity. This part of the yurt is considered a guest part. The funeral ritual of the owner of the home is also carried out here.

Today, yurt tourism has become widespread. Fans of Central Asia can afford not only to see yurts, but also to live in tents for some time. This type of recreation is called Jailoo tourism. In many restaurants and tourist sites you can see both stylized and real nomad dwellings.

For example, in Tyva there are two yurts near the national museum. And the ethno-tourist center "Aldyn-Bulak" offers its visitors to live in yurts and tents in comfortable conditions.

The names of some settlements in the North Caucasus use the word "yurt" - Kizilyurt, Khasavyurt, Babayurt. Most likely, such names have Turkic roots. It is likely that they were given by the Kumyks or Nogais.

A railway station and a village called Yurt can be found in the Irkutsk region. Similar names for towns and villages can be found where Kazakhs and Turkic peoples lived.

As for the use of yurts in architecture, structures of this form can be found in Almaty.