Turkmenistan
Long before Merv raised its first tower, Bronze Age villages were assembling along the Murgab River in what is called the Margiana Oasis. The greatest of…
Must-see attractions in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
One of Turkmenistan’s most unusual sights, the Darvaza Gas Craters are the result of Soviet-era gas exploration in the 1970s. The three craters are…
Turkmenistan
The best remaining testimony to Seljuq power at Merv is the 38m-high Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, located in what was the centre of Sultan Kala. The…
Turkmenistan
Like entering Milton’s underworld, only with changing rooms and a staircase, a visit to the Köw Ata Underground Lake is a unique experience. You enter a…
Turkmenistan
Turabeg Khanym Complex, opposite the Konye-Urgench ticket office, is still the subject of some debate. Locals and some scholars consider this a mausoleum,…
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…
Turkmenistan
With bands of pink, red and yellow rock searing across the sides of steep canyon walls, Yangykala is a breathtaking sight and one of the most spectacular…
Turkmenistan
This museum is housed in a sparkling white-marble palace across the river from the centre of town. The enormous premises is home to a collection of…
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…
Turkmenistan
Across the road from the Turabeg Khanym Complex, a path through a modern cemetery and the 19th-century Sayid Ahmed Mausoleum leads to this minaret, built…
Turkmenistan
Instantly recognisable by its conical turquoise dome, the Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum is one of Konye Urgench's most beautiful monuments. Tekesh was the 12th…
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…
Ashgabat
Once the centrepiece of Niyazov's Ashgabat, the Arch of Neutrality was erected to celebrate the Turkmen people's unsurprisingly unanimous endorsement of…
Turkmenistan
A respected Sufi teacher in the early 14th century, Gozli Ata had a large following until his untimely death at the hands of Mongol invaders. His…
Turkmenistan
Nejameddin Kubra (1145–1221) was a famous Khorezm Muslim teacher and poet who founded the Sufic Kubra order, with followers throughout the Islamic world…
Turkmenistan
The simple Konye-Urgench Museum is housed in the early-20th-century Dash Medressa, just before the main mausoleum complex. It includes some ancient Arabic…
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…
Turkmenistan
South of the Il-Arslan Mausoleum lies the base of the Mamun II Minaret, which was built in 1011. It was reduced to a stump by the Mongols, rebuilt in the…
Turkmenistan
Turkmenabat's ridiculously ornate museum could double as Liberace's house (check out those chandeliers!), but it also houses a solid collection of…
Turkmenistan
This crumbling 7th-century koshk (fortress) outside the walls of Merv is interesting for its ‘petrified stockade’ walls. Constructed by the Sassanians in…
Turkmenistan
The stunning remains of ancient Urgench (Ürgenç), capital of Khorezm, part of the Achaemenid Empire, are one of Turkmenistan's drawcard sights and one of…
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…
Turkmenistan
One of the most important pilgrimage sites in Turkmenistan are the mausoleums built for two Islamic askhab (companions of the Prophet), Al-Hakim ibn Amr…
Turkmenistan
The Il-Arslan Mausoleum is Konye-Urgench’s oldest standing monument. The conical dome, with a curious zigzag brick pattern, is the first of its kind and…
Mausoleum of Mohammed ibn Zeid
Turkmenistan
Like the other Sufi shrines (Gozli-Ata and Kubra), the 12th-century Mausoleum of Mohammed ibn Zeid is an important site for Sufi pilgrims.There’s…
Turkmenistan
In the southeastern corner of Giaur Kala, a distinct mound marks the site of a Buddhist stupa and monastery, which was still functioning in the early…
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…
Turkmenistan
Pokrovskaya Church, a handsome red-brick affair, was built in 1900. The church is surrounded by pleasant parkland and its interior is crammed with…
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…
Turkmenistan
South of Sultan Kala and Giaur Kala, this is one of three ice houses built during the Timurid era. The giant freezers, made from brick and covered by a…
Ashgabat
This Soviet-era circus building, which resembles a flying saucer, has been 'Turkmenised' with a coating of white marble. It's definitely worth a look if…
Turkmenistan
North of the Shahriyar Ark, outside the city walls, lies the Mosque of Yusuf Hamadani, built around the tomb of a 12th-century dervish. The complex has…
Turkmenistan
The mound of graves called the Kyrk Mollais a sacred place where Konye-Urgench’s inhabitants held their last stand against the Mongols. Here you might see…
Turkmenistan
This landmark church was built to honour St Nicolas in the late 19th century. The church is painted canary yellow and decorated on the interior with a…
Turkmenistan
The Shahriyar Ark (or Citadel of Sultan Kala) is one of the more interesting parts of Merv. Still visible are its walls, a well-preserved koshk (fort)…
Ashgabat
More a statement of foreign-policy leanings than a sign of religious awakening, the Azadi mosque, similar in appearance to the Blue Mosque in İstanbul,…
Ashgabat
Beyond the southern end of Independence Park is the huge, golden domed Palace of Knowledge: three large buildings that include a library, concert hall and…
Ashgabat
Taking a leaf out of Kim Jong-il’s book, the Turkmenbashi Museum houses all the gifts and awards presented to former President Niyazov by various people…
Monument to the Independence of Turkmenistan
Ashgabat
This is a popular spot for wedding groups to take photographs with a golden statue of Turkmenbashi. Nearby is a trippy giant copy of Niyazov's once…
Former Archive of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan
Ashgabat
Across the road from the Statue of Lenin this austere concrete building was once the Archive of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan.
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