Monumen Arch of Independence in sunset. Ashkhabad. Turkmenistan.

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Ashgabat

With its lavish marble palaces, gleaming gold domes and vast expanses of manicured parkland, Ashgabat (‘the city of love’ in Arabic) has reinvented itself as a showcase city for the newly independent republic and is definitely one of Central Asia's – if not the world's – strangest places. Built almost entirely off the receipts of Turkmenistan’s oil and gas revenues, the city’s transformation continues at break-neck speed, with whole neighbourhoods facing the wrecking ball in the name of progress, and gleaming white marble monoliths springing up overnight like mushrooms.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • National Museum

    National Museum

    Ashgabat

    Looking like a lost palace in the urban desert, the National Museum occupies a striking position in front of the Kopet Dag. It’s actually a collection of…

  • Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex

    Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex

    Ashgabat

    Unveiled in 2014, this vast complex features three memorials honouring those that died in the 1948 earthquake, soldiers who perished in WWII and those…

  • Independence Square

    Independence Square

    Ashgabat

    At the centre of Ashgabat is the enormous Independence Square, on which sits the golden-domed Palace of Turkmenbashi (the place of work of the former…

  • Arch of Neutrality

    Arch of Neutrality

    Ashgabat

    Once the centrepiece of Niyazov's Ashgabat, the Arch of Neutrality was erected to celebrate the Turkmen people's unsurprisingly unanimous endorsement of…

  • Carpet Museum

    Carpet Museum

    Ashgabat

    While there’s a limit to the number of rugs the average visitor can stand, the central exhibit, the world’s largest handwoven rug, really is something to…

  • Museum of Fine Arts

    Museum of Fine Arts

    Ashgabat

    The Museum of Fine Arts is located in an impressive building with a big rotunda, two tiers and lots of gold. The collection contains some great Soviet…

  • Independence Park

    Independence Park

    Ashgabat

    The Altyn Asyr Shopping Centre is the curious pyramidal shopping centre at the northern end of Independence Park. The Monument to the Independence of…

  • Statue of Lenin

    Statue of Lenin

    Ashgabat

    The statue of Lenin, in a small park off Azadi köçesi, is a charmingly incongruous assembly of a tiny Lenin on an enormous and very Central Asian plinth…

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