The main attraction of the Serahs historical reserve, to the south of the modern town, is the 11thcentury Mausoleum of Abul Fazl.
A highly respected Sufi sheikh, and mentor of Abu Said Meikhene, a mausoleum was built over the grave of Abul Fazl soon after his death in 1023. The mausoleum is a fine example of the skills of the architects of Serakhs during the Seljuk period. Known locally as Serakhs Baba, the mausoleum consists of a square chamber, its walls some 15m in length, above which is a double dome atop a 12-sided drum. The external walls of the building, which was restored in the 1980s, each contain five blind-arched niches, with decoration provided by the alternations between vertically and horizontally placed bricks. The tall portal, with scalloped decoration beneath the arch, dates from a 15th-century reconstruction under the Timurids. In the interior, the transition between walls and dome is marked with four squinches, separated by niches. The cenotaph of Abul Fazl lies in the centre of the room, covered with sheets.
It is possible to climb onto the roof of the mausoleum, via a steep spiral stairway. This offers a good view of the site, including the citadel to the north. Some of the tiles on the roof display a hand print; possibly simply to make the tiles easier to lay. To the north of the mausoleum, the long low hill covered with pieces of pottery and red brick is the citadel. On the eastern side of this hill a section of wall, including a bastion, has been reconstructed. The main residential areas of Serakhs in its heyday stretched out east of the citadel, and were in turn surrounded by mud-brick walls, whose lines can be picked out from the vantage point of the citadel.
Yarty Gumbez («Half Dome») – the name is somewhat misleading, as none of the dome now survives. Another casualty of recent decay is an inscription on the east wall of the building, clearly visible in photos taken here in the 1970s, whose text dated the mausoleum to 1098. The north wall is almost entirely absent, and the only remnants of the drum beneath the dome are two elegant squinches, occupying the inside corners of the south wall. Scholars have suggested that this may be the mausoleum of one Sheikh Ahmed Al Khady, based on a 12th century account which records that Al Khady was buried in one of the villages of the