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Ancient major city in Central Asia
Photo: Mark and Delwen, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Merv is an old city on the Silk Road 35 km east of the modern city of Mary in the Mary Province of Turkmenistan. There is a state park for the old city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Exhibits from excavations of Bronze Age Gonur, Merv and Altyn Depe, ethnographic collection on the life of the Turkmen people (carpets, traditional clothes, wedding dress, silver jewellery, complete yurt)
Dates from the 6th century and covers an area of about 20 ha. It consists of a wall and moat. The surviving walls are up to 30 m high.
Dates from around 1000 AD. It is roughly square in plan and its walls are about 2 km long. The Ben Makhan Mosque in the center is hardly recognizable. The Buddhist stupa and monastery in the south east corner of Giaur Kala are considered as the westernmost excavated example.
Dates from the 11th century. Sultan Kala means 'fortress of the sultans'. It is west of Giaur Kala. Merv became the capital of the Seljuk State in the 11th and 12th centuries. In this period the city reached its greatest prosperity. The city was surrounded by a fortication and a moat by order of sultan Melik Shah. The walls of the medieval city and the citadel Shahriyar Ark are 12 km long.
The nearby Mausoleum of Mohammed ibn Zayid was built in the 12th century in honour of Mohammed ibn Zayid, a major representative of the Shi'iet branch of Islam and descendant of caliph Ali in the fifth generation. Mohammed ibn Zayid was the head of a revolt against the Omayads in the 8th century. The revolt was suppressed within a year and Mohammed ibn Zayid was killed. The fine Kufi inscription in the chamber and the original decorated brick facade of the prayer hall are especially remarkable. The mausoleum is considered one of the best examples of Islamic architecture.
Abdullah Khan Kala is the fortress erected by Timur's son Shahrukh in the 15th century. The fortress was lined with mud bricks from the outside and had 44 watch towers. The fortifications were surrounded by huge moats up to 30 m wide, filled with water. In the citadel, only few walls of the palace have survived. The walls, however, are of outstanding interest, as they show the evolution of military architecture from the 5th century BC to the 15th/16th century AD.
The magnificent mosque dates from the 12th century.
In the Talkhattan cemetery.
The fortress dates from the 18th century. It is a three walled structure adjacent to the western wall of Abdullakhan Kala. The length of the western wall was 750 meters, the northern and southern walls were 500 m long. Only fragments of the southern and northern walls have survived.
The Mausoleum was built in the center of the Seljuk city. It is also called 'Dar-al-Akhyre (The Other World). Ajmad Sanjar (1085-1157) was sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire. He was one of the last great Seljuk and was described as brave, generous and chivalrous, a perfect Iranized Turk, defender of the Persian civilization and one of its legendary heroes. At the time of the division of the reign among the sons of Malkikshah he became governor of Khurasan at the age of ten or twelve. His principal residence was Merv. He installed vassal rulers in Transoxania and Afghanistan and became lord of an extensive sultanate in the Iranian East. In 1141, however, Transoxania was conquered by the Kara-Khitai, who had migrated from China to the Issyk Kul. In 1153 tribes of Oghuz rebelled against Sanjar, took him prisoner and plundered Merv. Sanjar freed himself 3 years later and died in 1157. Finally, Sanjar had failed to create a lasting Seljuk state in the Iranian east. During the siege of Merv by the Mongols in 1221 the body of the sultan was reburied in an unknown place. The mausoleum was constructed by order of Sultan Muizeddin Sanjar. Due to the fine brickwork, the carved stucco and the surviving mural paintings it is one of the most outstanding buildings of the Seljuk period.
A drive from Mary to Merv and back, including visiting several sites of own choice (total 4 hours) cost 150 manat after negotiating (updated August 2018).
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