In the Kochkor Valley, half a kilometer northeast of the village of Don-Alysh, lies the Kyrk-Choroo Mausoleum Complex. Currently, the architectural form of 14 mausoleums has been relatively preserved. The monument continues to deteriorate catastrophically, and restoration is unlikely to be possible. Previously constructed drainage channels around the monument have yielded no results. In the places of many former mausoleums, piles of decayed raw bricks remain. The bricks are square, and traces of plastering are noticeable. No decorations have been found. The overwhelming majority of the mausoleums are dome-shaped with powerful portals and a sagana inside.
Among the ruins, scattered juniper logs can be found, which apparently served to support the dome. Some local residents living in the village near these monuments claim to have found fragments of blue glazed tiles. However, during the inspection, not a single piece of such tiles or any fragments of ceramics or other items were found.
How the mausoleums looked in the past and what architectural decorations or at least special features they had is not remembered by the old-timers, and they cannot say anything definite. No one remembers who built them or how many mausoleums were here. Some say there were twenty, while others assert there were fifteen. Of those that have survived, only fourteen can be distinguished.
All the old-timers and interviewed informants associate the Kyrk-Choroo monument with a legend from the epic "Semetey." The legend states that, offended by Semetey, forty knights left Talas. They crossed over the pass to Susamyr and from Susamyr through the Karakol Pass into the Kochkor Valley. Semetey caught up with them in the Ak-Chiy area and asked them to return. But the knights refused. This place, according to the old-timers, is located 6-8 km west of the mausoleums.
The first armed clash between Semetey and the knights occurred where the mausoleums now stand. According to the legend, here Semetey killed about 20 knights of his father. The others began to seek refuge in flight. But Semetey caught up with them in the Tort-Kul area and again urged them to return. However, the knights did not obey Semetey and attacked him. He had to destroy them. After the knights perished, Semetey gathered the inhabitants of this area and with their help erected mausoleums in honor of the fallen warriors.
According to another legend, during a swan hunt, Semetey himself recounted the murder he committed. The legend states: Aichurek, in love with Semetey, transformed into a swan and flew towards Talas to see her beloved. Semetey's first wife, Chachykey, upon learning that Aichurek had turned into a white swan, advised Semetey to hunt swans. Refusing to shoot defenseless swans, Semetey, in response to Chachykey's accusations, declared that he was not afraid even of the knights who attacked him and, fighting with them, killed them all.
The legend clearly expresses the theme of feudal strife in Kyrgyz society, when after the unity achieved by Manas, a period of inter-feudal conflicts ensues.
