Ashgabat (Ashgabat) - the capital of Turkmenistan
History of Ashgabat. Monuments and photos of Ashgabat. Weather in Ashgabat

Ashgabat (Ashgabat) is the capital of Turkmenistan. The city lies under the 38th parallel, at the latitude of Athens, Seoul and San Francisco; it is the largest city in Turkmenistan.

Population - 600.1 thousand people (2006). Ashgabat is the industrial city of the republic, providing more than 17% of its industrial output; a large cultural center that houses the Republican Academy of Sciences, more than 30 research and more than 100 medical institutions, 4 higher educational institutions, including Turkmen State University, 10 technical schools, more than 40 secondary schools, 4 theaters, State Philharmonic. Ashgabat is the geographical center of Turkmenistan. It is located just a few tens of kilometers from the Iranian state border.

At the same time, the capital is located at approximately equal distances from the westernmost city of the republic - Turkmenbashi, which is 550 km away, and from its easternmost city - Chardzhou, which is 587 km away, from the northernmost - Tashauz - 530 km and from the southernmost - Kushki - about 500 km.

The city was founded as a military fortification in January 1881, after the tsarist troops occupied the entire Ahal-Tekin oasis, and in particular the village of Askhabad located in its east. This small Teke settlement, which gave its name to the future capital, was until recently located outside its borders, and only in the last fifteen years was it completely absorbed by the rapidly growing city. The entire true history of the Turkmen stoic, the entire century-long period of its life, was densely saturated with important events and significant changes. During this time, it changed its name four times and, in essence, was born twice. Two main reasons were that an ordinary fortress behind an earthen rampart, with a garrison stationed in adobe barracks, very quickly transformed into a busy city, into the residence of the highest authorities of the Trans-Caspian region, into its main administrative, political, trade and transit center. The first of these reasons is the position at the crossroads of trade routes long trodden by caravans: to the south - along the Kuchanskaya road (now the Gaudanskoe highway), through the Kopetdag gorges to the border with Persia - then an important trading partner of Russia in the East. To the north - through the Karakum Desert to Khiva; to the east - through the Tejen and Murgab oases, through the crossings on the Amu Darya - to Bukhara. But the significance of this first reason increased a hundredfold after 1885, when a railway line approached Askhabad, which a year later reached Chardzhou, and another 10 years later to Kushka - the border with. Afghanistan. It is not for nothing that in the original design of the coat of arms of Askhabad it was supposed to depict a camel caravan on the shield under the royal crown and railway train as symbols of “the distinctive feature and main character of the city’s life.”

The second reason for the rapid rise of Askhabad is prosperity in the first stages of good fresh water and building materials - wood in the nearby mountains, pebbles and clay in the suburbs. As soon as railway traffic was established, people poured into Askhabad from different places Russia, especially from the Caucasus, has a motley stream of people: poor artisans and small traders came here in the hope of a solid income, a daily piece of bread; An enterprising industrialist and resourceful merchant were in a hurry, counting on fat profits in the new colony. Workers who completed the construction of the railway, soldiers who had served their term of service, and retired officers remained to live in the city; settlers from Persia, traders, artisans, and farmers settled. In the main city of the region it was easy to find a suitable occupation; Baha'i Persians fled here, persecuted in their homeland by religious intolerance. When Askhabad was 10 years old, it already had about 13 thousand inhabitants. Over the next fifteen years, the city's population more than tripled, and by 1911 it exceeded 45 thousand people.

At the same time, Askhabad was inhabited by representatives of fifteen different nationalities, of which Turkmens accounted for only less than 1.5%: the tsarist government and Russian capitalism did nothing to introduce the country’s indigenous inhabitants to city life. On the contrary, as true colonialists, government officials and large entrepreneurs were interested in preserving the social and economic backwardness of the Turkmen people in order to exploit their strength and age-old skills in irrigated agriculture and pasture cattle breeding with the greatest benefit. At the same time, capitalist relations penetrated into Agriculture Turkmenistan: it was losing its closed natural character, and its products went to the Askhabad semi-handicraft enterprises that were opening in large numbers - cotton gins, oil mills, leather tanning, soap making, wine making, flour milling. Before the First World War, there were 51 such industries in the city, employing 210 workers, that is, an average of 4 people in each “plant” and in each “factory”.

As the population grew, the city itself grew. It stretched most to the north-west parallel to the railway and Kopetdag, approaching the low foothills - the Keshininbair ridge, or the “hills”, as the townspeople call it.

The appearance of the city. Ashgabat, born and built in a fabulously short time, in “one breath,” unlike many other centers Central Asia, such as Tashkent or Samarkand, never had an “old” and “new” city, “European” and “Asian” quarters. But still, already in the first decade, three parts with quite pronounced differences took shape. The city began from a high embankment hill topped with an earthen rampart of a fortress. A vast esplanade was left undeveloped in front of the hill. It was used for parades and reviews, prayers and daily changing of the guards. Near this central square there were buildings of administrative and military institutions, residential buildings of officers and officials. And when it passed by Askhabad Railway, its station became the second core of the city's growth: the representative building of the Railway Administration was located near it, and residential areas of railway employees and workers stretched out. To the west of the fortress, from the military-bureaucratic aristocratic part, a whole settlement of Russian settlers settled, who came here for the army. Their houses and shops laid the foundation for the third, trade and craft district of the city. Soon Russian and Armenian, Khiva and Azerbaijani, Tekin and Ukrainian workshops, shops, warehouses, hotels, caravanserais and bazaars were located here in large numbers and in close quarters. By the end of the 80s, these three parts of the city - military-administrative, railway and trade-craft, initially isolated, separated by uninhabited wastelands, merged into a single, continuous development of the crowded and lively, young and rapidly growing Askhabad.

At the same time, from the very beginning, its development was distinguished by an extremely clear and rational, “St. Petersburg” structure of the urban plan, which in its main scheme has survived to this day. The natural center of Askhabad became its historical core - the near-fortress part with a hill in the middle. From the central esplanade, which to this day remains the main square of the city, the streets made their way, like rays, radially to the south, southwest and west. And in the northern wide strip they ran parallel to one another and the railway track. However, in all parts of the city - old and new, in the center and on. in the outskirts - the streets were laid mostly straight and intersected, as a rule, at right angles. And no matter how Askhabad grew in the future, it has already preserved this dual unity of the radial-ring and checkerboard-rectangular layout. In the aristocratic center of the city, as well as partly in its railway district, buildings of public and private institutions, residential buildings and mansions of the military and official nobility, wealthy factory owners and financiers were built mainly from baked bricks. Between the fortress and the station, the best garden of the Officers' Assembly in the city was laid out, and close trellises of trees were planted on the streets, which now, with their power and height, testify to the seniority of such city highways. The rest of the city consisted entirely of houses of the usual type for Central Asia - made of mud brick with a flat earthen roof.

The houses were whitewashed every year, and under the bright sun, Askhabad shone with a sharp white spot against the background of yellow-brown in summer and light green in spring nearby hills - bairs and the purple bulk of the mountain range in the distance. The busiest and most colorful were the trade and craft districts, located along the radial highway that opens onto the Firyuzinskaya road, as well as on the passages adjacent to it. In the same part of the city there were also bazaars, which, according to the general Central Asian tradition, were important centers of city life. On them and around them, from morning until sunset, multilingual chatter did not cease. Horsemen scurried here, donkeys pulled creaking carts with luggage, arrogant camels passed under their packs as if reluctantly, and it happened that a lacquered carriage turned here, in which an officer or official’s wife, accompanied by a servant, was hurrying to the “haberdashery trade.” From numerous taverns, restaurants and dukhans came the clinking of dishes and the inextinguishable smell of burnt lamb fat, fried onions and some herbs. U always open doors Blacksmiths and gunsmiths worked in cramped and darkened workshops in the fumes and metallic ringing. In front of the eyes of customers and idle onlookers, skillful products of braided and silver makers were born; the sour smell of leather used to be a sign announcing the production of shoemakers and saddlers; The bakery was visible from a distance from the thinly rolled out sheets of lavash hung like laundry on a line. Right underneath open air The barbers were working: holding the soapy head of a squatting client between their knees, they decisively worked with a razor, while simultaneously reporting the latest city news.

And right there, on the street, in the shadow of dusty ducts, street scribes hunched over their boxes, which served as desks and storage for production tools - ink and paper. However, trading establishments, workshops, handicraft factories, warehouses, taverns and taverns opened in other parts of the growing and under construction city. And the larger and more populated it became, the more acute the water problem became. There were no longer enough mountain rivers that initially fed him - Ashgabatka, Keshinka, Karasu and several other, even smaller ones. In many courtyards they dug reservoirs - houses and wells, but they were small, and besides, most of them were polluted wastewater. Due to the lack of moisture, on the outskirts there was greenery only in the courtyards, and the bare, dusty streets looked like wastelands.

In 1907, Senator and Chamberlain Count K. Palen inspected “by the highest command” the Turkestan possessions, which had been annexed to the Russian Empire. In his report regarding Askhabad, he noted: “... the main drawback is the lack of a sufficient amount of water... The city does not have sewerage, running water, satisfactory lighting, hygienically equipped bazaars and a slaughterhouse.” But there were no funds in the treasury for urgently needed construction. In this regard, an official document dating back to approximately the same time is very interesting: “Cost estimates for the city of Askhabad for 1900.” This estimate did not provide for any new construction, neither small nor large, and allocated only 10% of the annual budget for the maintenance of the existing irrigation network, a little more was allocated for the entire medical, veterinary and sanitary part, but almost half - 46.7% - estimated expenses were allocated for the maintenance of the city police. And it must be said that the numerous “servants of the throne” - the Askhabad police officers did not receive the sovereign’s salary in vain: they diligently sought out and cruelly suppressed any free thinking. But, nevertheless, already in late XIX- early 20th century Askhabad, by that time the recognized center of economic and spiritual life of the Trans-Caspian region, became one of its largest centers of the national movement.

This movement was facilitated by close ties with the Baku and Tiflis Social Democratic organizations. And also the fact that “to these remote places” politically “unreliable” people were exiled from the central provinces, among whom were the Bolsheviks. Individual issues of Lenin's Iskra also came here. Forty years after the Great October Revolution, casting a retrospective glance at the historical destinies of their country, Ashgabat historians wrote: “... the Turkmen people, being part of the Russian Empire, found a faithful friend and teacher in the person of the most advanced and revolutionary Russian in the world working class..." In 1903, the first Social Democratic circle began to operate in the city, and two years later there was already a Social Democratic organization headed by the local gymnasium teacher L. L. Stabrovsky and the Baku Bolshevik printing worker A. Khachiev.

In 1905-1907 An underground printing house was active in Askhabad, organized political protests and armed clashes with the tsarist administration took place, in which railway workers and soldiers played the main role. And although the first Russian revolution was defeated both in the center and on the outskirts of the empire, including in Askhabad, it nevertheless gave the people experience and political hardening. Both were very useful a decade later during a difficult and difficult period for the first time in human history. socialist revolution. Soviet power in Askhabad was established in December 1917. But soon the black forces of counter-revolution rose up against the Bolshevik Soviets. In July 1918, the Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries, supported by nationalist gangs, started a rebellion in Askhabad. They broke into the Council building. The Red Army soldiers guarding it, including the Turkmen detachment commanded by Ovezberdy Kuliev, were destroyed. Many Bolsheviks and Soviet workers died in the bloody battles that broke out in the streets. The counter-revolution managed to win temporary victories in other regions of Turkmenistan. In Merv these days, the rebels captured a former railway worker, People's Commissar of Labor Pavel Gerasimovich Poltoratsky. In prison before his execution, he wrote a letter - an extraordinary document, stunning even today, after many years: “I have been sentenced by military headquarters to be shot. In a few hours I will be gone... Comrade workers! Dying at the hands of a white gang, I believe that I will be replaced by new comrades, stronger, more robust in spirit, who will begin and carry on the work that has begun in the struggle for the complete emancipation of the working people from the yoke of capital.” And the final lines of this amazing letter are imbued with such proud self-control, such natural courage, which only a person of exceptionally high spirit is capable of, boundless devotion to his idea: “Well, comrades, it seems that everything that needs to be said has been told to you. I count on you. I am calm and am leaving you forever, but not myself, but they are taking me away.

P. Poltoratsky was sentenced to death. July 21, 1918, at 12 o'clock at night." A day later, the counter-revolutionaries committed another atrocity, shooting nine Askhabad commissars and commanders of the Red Army. In early August, British interventionists entered the territory of Turkmenistan in collusion with the counter-revolutionary elite. With their armed assistance, the White Guard “Trans-Caspian Government” managed to hold out for about 12 months, but on July 9, 1919, as a result of the heroic actions of the Red Army, supported by workers and farmers, Askhabad again became Soviet and was named Poltoratsk in memory of the remarkable revolutionary. A new stage in the history of the city began. In February 1925, the first Congress of Soviets of the Turkmen SSR proclaimed Poltoratsk the capital of the newly formed republic. And in April 1927, the next, second Republican Congress of Soviets, which approved the first constitution of Soviet Turkmenistan, returned its historical and national name to its capital - Ashgabat.

The second letter in it was changed to bring the sound of the word closer to the Turkmen pronunciation. At an ever more rapid pace, with an ever wider scope, Ashgabat confidently mastered the diverse functions of the capital, becoming a major administrative, cultural and economic center of the country. Literally one after another, new technically equipped enterprises are coming into operation in different parts of the city, processing agricultural and construction raw materials, as well as metalworking, new institutions and organizations are being created that develop the national culture of the Turkmen people in form and socialist in content. According to the 1939 census, more than 126 thousand people lived in the city, of which Turkmen already made up 12%. Over the years since the 1926 census, their stratum has increased 5 times, and this growth has continued with increasing intensity, reflecting important social and cultural changes in the republic.

At the end of the Great Patriotic War, 65 large and 200 small industrial enterprises, 3 institutes, the Turkmen branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 3 theaters and a film studio, a museum operated in Ashgabat fine arts, Philharmonic, creative unions uniting writers, artists, architects and composers of Turkmenistan. The city grew, stretching mainly to the west and east. He crossed the railway to the north and was already raising a new industrial area in the southeast. And yet, the growth of Ashgabat in the pre-war and early post-war years did not always and in everything keep pace with the rapid rise of industry, science and art. Ashgabat at that time resembled the heart of a teenager, which sometimes suddenly lags behind the rest of the body in development. There was an urgent need in the city to more rationally place the scattered industrial enterprises, it was already necessary to improve the amenities of residential areas, consisting of 90% of one-story houses made of mud brick, and, finally, it was necessary to improve the architectural design of the city.

Little corresponding to his capital rank. But such a reconstruction was impossible without the demolition of many existing buildings, and at that time, when the war had just ended, this was the case; seemed too much for me to do yet. And the city improved without changing the layout, within its old structure, “on the fly,” introducing, as far as possible, various improvements in housing and communal construction, as well as in landscaping and water supply, which in the natural conditions of Ashgabat were of paramount importance. The first post-war plan (1946-1950) provided for the expansion of old enterprises and the construction of new ones, consolidating the specialization of Ashgabat in the textile, food, construction and metalworking industries. He outlined considerable work to improve the city and further improve its water supply. And this plan was already being implemented when, on the night of October 6, 1948, there was a terrible earthquake, which no seismic station had ever recorded before Soviet Union, practically destroyed the city, sweeping it off the face of the earth. At 1 hour 17 minutes local time, a sudden 9-magnitude shock, accompanied by a strong underground rumble, instantly extinguished the lights of the sleeping city and turned it into a dusty pile of ruins. Having escaped from the wreckage, the wounded Moscow flight mechanic and radio operator Yuri Drozdov reached the IL-12 passenger plane and sent the news of a terrible disaster on the air from the on-board radio. And the whole country immediately responded. First aid came from other cities of Turkmenistan and neighboring republics - Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, as well as from Armenia and Georgia. Plane after plane, and when traffic was restored on the destroyed railway, train after train transported the wounded and children who had lost their parents from Ashgabat, and delivered doctors, medicines, food to the site of the disaster... And from the very first days the labor epic of restoration began , but essentially the construction of Ashgabat again. It was entirely born out of ruins on sites cleared of them - even partially surviving houses that required major repairs were demolished. Asphalt, tree plantations, city communications, as a rule, were preserved everywhere, so they decided to build Ashgabat according to its old planning scheme, especially since, as we know, it was distinguished by many advantages.

At the same time, a new city was to rise from the ruins - the capital of modern Turkmenistan, corresponding to its high achievements in all areas of cultural and economic life. Therefore, to the old planning structure corrections were made, which in many ways fundamentally changed the appearance of the city. As a result, today's Ashgabat was born, in which the streets are straighter, wider than they were before, the squares are designed in single ensembles, and everywhere dozens of hectares are allocated for new boulevards, squares, gardens, parks, and flower beds. That's it industrial enterprises assembled in groups, “production nests,” in places most convenient for specialization and cooperation, for the delivery of raw materials and the export of products. In the central parts of the city, republican and local institutions, a university and an academic complex, republican theaters are located in ensembles, and further to the west and southwest - hospital and university campuses. The largest part of the urban area is, of course, occupied by residential areas. They are collected, as required by modern planning principles, into microdistricts, of which there are already about 15 in the capital.

In the area to which it approaches at its western end, there are spinning and weaving, silk-winding, furniture factories, and a machine-building plant. The plant produces dough mixing machines known throughout the country; the first machines for collecting mirabilite at Kara-Bogaz-Gol, which we have already mentioned, were built there. The Ashneftemash plant began producing such machines. Ashneftemash also produces three-bladed impellers with a seven-meter span. Rotated by powerful electric motors, they are capable of moving more than a million cubic meters of air in an hour. They operate in cooling block systems in most oil refineries and chemical plants in the country, in petrochemical plants and thermal power plants in Bulgaria and Afghanistan, India, and the United Arab Republic. Recently, a completely new pump shop for lifting water from wells was put into operation at the plant; Such pumps in Turkmenistan are, so to speak, essential items. The plant also begins to produce new equipment that mechanizes operations related to oil transportation. One and a half kilometers north of Ashneftemash, on the banks of the Karakum Canal, a new resort suburb of Ashgabat has emerged. In May 1962, the pioneer trench of the third stage brought the first, still small stream of Amudarya water, and now there are well-maintained beaches with umbrellas and sun loungers, water stations with boats and boats, and in Ashgabat there is a brisk store of fishing supplies. On the banks of a large reservoir, in the northeast of the capital, a resort town with boarding houses, holiday homes, and camps will grow among the residents of Ashgabat and its industrial satellite Bezmein. Here, in the east, but already south of the railway, that is, within the old city limits, there is a glass factory famous for its versatile and perfect mechanization of all labor processes.

It produces mainly excellent window glass. Ashgabat has always been famous for its carpets. The famous Ashgabat carpet factory, the flagship of Turkmen carpet weaving, is known throughout the world. Carpets are the pride and glory of Turkmenistan; it is not without reason that the gel, a stylized flower, a characteristic element of carpet ornament, is included in the state emblem of the republic. The whole world has admired and continues to admire Turkmen carpets. They exhibited in more than 50 countries in Europe and Asia, America and Australia and received gold medals and first-class diplomas in Paris, Brussels, and Leipzig. The Turkmen State Museum of Fine Arts is famous for its exhibits. In it, among various works of art from different times and different nations a collection of Turkmen carpets of particular value is kept. There is another important Ashgabat attraction of the city - the Turkmen State Academic Drama Theater of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. He successfully stages national dramas, such as “Keymir-Keur”, “Makhtumkuli”, “Allan’s Family”, “Fate”, “The Eighth Treasure”, plays of Russian and foreign classics - “The Government Inspector”, “Othello”, as well as works Turkmen, Russian and other authors dedicated to modern times. This theater is also widely visited by spectators who do not speak the Turkmen language, since with the help of special radio equipment they can listen Simultaneous translation actors' speeches into Russian. Turkmen state university named after is the center of science of the republic.

Twin cities of Ashgabat:

Albuquerque, USA
Athens, Greece
Ankara, Türkiye

As I already said, Ashgabat consists of two parts: a new city and an old city, empty, licked white marble scenery without people and old Soviet buildings with lively courtyards and noisy streets. Near Ashgabat tragic story. On October 6, 1948, one of the most destructive earthquakes in history occurred in the city. 90–98% of all buildings were destroyed. According to various estimates, from 1/2 to 2/3 of the city's population died. After the earthquake, the city was actually rebuilt. Today, the remnants of this Soviet building are considered the old city, which is gradually disappearing under the onslaught of the new, ceremonial white marble Ashgabat.

01. The center of Ashgabat is incredibly pleasant. A very clean, green post-Soviet city.

02. There are a lot of people and cars here, there is little scenery here.

03. All buildings are in good condition.

04. Unfortunately, now all this is being demolished, since the old city does not fit into the new concept of white marble Ashgabat.

05. For now, here it is.

06. And just like that.

07. There are houses like this. Look how lovely it is.

08. The courtyards are the most ordinary.

09. People seize land for themselves and make personal courtyards.

10. Throughout Ashgabat, houses are hung with huge satellite dishes. There are plates even in remote villages. They are inexpensive, so every city resident considers it possible and necessary to buy a separate plate for themselves instead of installing one for several families.

11. The boom of satellite television in Turkmenistan occurred at the end of the 90s. For many, it remains the only “window to the world”, because foreign press does not appear in the country, the Internet is very expensive, and access to many news resources is blocked or controlled by special services. They watch mainly Russian, Turkish and European channels via satellite. The most popular Russian one is TNT.

12. A year ago, Ashgabat authorities issued an order to dismantle satellite dishes installed by residents of multi-storey buildings. In return, people were offered to connect to cable television or satellite dishes officially installed by the authorities. The human rights organization Human Rights Watch immediately raised a fuss, saying that the authorities want to completely isolate the residents of Turkmenistan from sources of independent information. According to the organization, after some Ashgabat residents refused to remove the dishes, unknown people appeared and destroyed the antennas without the consent of their owners. But I didn't notice any dismantling.

13. But they are trying to fight with extensions. Previously, you could build whatever you wanted in your backyard, but now you can take no more than 4 meters.

14. On the first floors, people usually make a separate entrance to their apartment, garage and summer kitchen.

15. But they try not to stand out, otherwise the neighbors will snitch and tear everything down.

16. Electricity is quite cheap in Ashgabat, so even the simplest shop or house has air conditioning. It is terribly hot here in the summer, and it is very difficult to live without air conditioning. The authorities are against air conditioners hanging on the facades of houses on the street side. In 2014, repair services began removing them from the walls of residential buildings “in order to improve the appearance of the city,” and then Ashgabat residents had to take to the streets and organize protests.

Farid Tukhbatullin, head of the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights:

The residents gathered about eighty people, roughly equally divided between women and men, while the police numbered about twenty people and about the same number of military personnel and employees of the Ministry of Homeland Security. There was no serious collision. Realizing that the matter could take a very serious turn if the conflict continued and residents of neighboring houses became involved, the officials reassured the people, promising not to demand the removal of air conditioners, and retreated along with the police and soldiers.

According to Tukhbatullin, the government’s war against air conditioners has been going on since 2012. Recalling the hot climate of Turkmenistan, he calls this a mockery. There are different versions of why the authorities behave this way: according to one of them, they are trying to achieve complete uniformity in the appearance of the streets, according to another, they are afraid that a bomb could be hidden under the air conditioners. Once it happened that during the passage of the presidential escort, the air conditioner broke off from one of the facades for some unknown reason.

In addition to installing air conditioners on the facades of houses, the authorities prohibit Turkmens from hanging laundry on their balconies, storing various rubbish there, and opening windows during public events. So the view of “free” Ashgabat opens from the courtyard.

17. Real Ashgabat

18. Something has been captured here.

19. There are several high-rise buildings in the center.

20. Ashgabat also has very good roads.

21. Schoolgirls have green dresses, students have red ones.

22. A tourist cannot just come to Turkmenistan and live anywhere. We need to rent one of the hotels for foreigners, and there are not many of them. They are all good and expensive, because a foreigner should not have any bad impressions.

23. Best hotel city - "Sofitel Oguzkent". Rooms start at $300 per night.

24.

25. I wouldn't say that the hotel is magical. But if I start talking about the shortcomings, you will say that I’m greedy.

26. The coolest thing about this hotel is the view of the Presidential Palace, which cannot be photographed. But from the hotel window you can ;). I had to change my number.

27.

28. Also in Ashgabat is the coolest monument to Lenin in the world. I don’t even know if this one should be put in a museum.

29. The monument was laid on January 27, 1924, on the day of Lenin’s funeral, and on November 7, 1927 it was opened. Since then, no one has touched Lenin’s grandfather, even the powerful Ashgabat earthquake of 1948 bypassed him. The pedestal is decorated with majolica in the form of Turkmen carpets. I suspect that this helped the monument survive even in the era of golden statues. The statue of Lenin itself was cast from melted down cannons. IN Soviet time in the pedestal, of course, there was a Lenin museum.

30. They write that this is the only monument to Lenin in the capitals of the post-Soviet Central Asian republics. By the way, on the other side of the pedestal there is the inscription “Leninism is the path to the emancipation of the peoples of the East”)

31. Ertogrulgazi Mosque, built in the Ottoman style. This is the largest mosque in Ashgabat. Immediately after gaining independence, Turkmenistan became friends with Turkey, so in 1998 a mosque appeared in the capital, built by a Turkish company at the suggestion of the Turkish prime minister and named after the Ottoman ruler Ertogrul.

32. In theory, it should be like the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

33. Locals also believe that the mosque “brings misfortune” because several people died during its construction. How strong this belief is is unknown, but the mosque was empty. In fact, Islam (like other religions) prohibits superstition, so the mosque was most likely empty because I came at the wrong time for prayer. On Fridays, they say, there are so many people here that traffic jams, rare for Ashgabat, even occur.

34. Ashgabat is incredibly clean! Locals joke that the city is swept 25 hours a day.

35. Ashgabat has been living without trolleybuses for several years now. Trolleybuses have been traveling around the Turkmen capital since 1964. New routes were opened until 2000, but after that the process went in the opposite direction. Shortly before the closure of the Ashgabat trolleybus network on January 1, 2012, there was only one route left in the city.

Elimination of trolleybus routes for a long time explained by repair work. They promised to soon restore the network and even optimize it, but in the end the trolleybuses stood idle in the depot. Instead, buses were released onto the streets.

36. Local residents were not happy about this turn. According to their reviews in 2012, riding buses is very inconvenient: “Trolleybuses ran until 11 pm. And you can’t wait for buses after eight. Apparently, after the evening rush hour, drivers leave to get rich.” “Leaving to work” means leaving the route and going to work to order. Locals said that if someone managed to wait for the evening bus, then they had to pay twice as much for travel as during the day. The drivers did not deny this and admitted that they were forced into this mode of work by the foremen, who took the “evening earnings” for themselves.

It is still unclear why the Ashgabat authorities eliminated trolleybuses. Local residents are inclined to believe that Berdymukhamedov, who is so sensitive to the appearance of the city, simply did not like the overhead wires. There is another option. Every morning and every evening Berdymukhamedov travels from home to work and back. At such moments, traffic in the city is blocked. Hiding from the president, buses can easily turn into neighboring streets, but with trolleybuses the situation is more complicated. That's why they decided to remove them.

37. In 2014, it became known that the Turkmen authorities donated unnecessary trolleybuses to Tajikistan. At the same time, Berdimuhamedov says at various international meetings and forums that Turkmenistan is systematically moving towards the use of environmentally friendly and resource-saving technologies in the transport field...

38. Station. You can’t film it either, so the shot is from afar.

39. One of the attractions of Ashgabat is the city market, also known as the State Trade Center "Gulistan", also known as the Russian Bazaar. If the giant “Altyn Asyr” is primarily a clothing market and the main point of sale of carpets, then people go to the Russian Bazaar mainly for food. The bazaar is famous for its melons, smoked fish, and there are many varieties of the national bread Chorek. Previously, they say, black caviar was sold for $750 per kilogram. Today black caviar costs $1000 per kg, there is smuggling;). But at these prices you can buy a legal one in Moscow. This is also one of the few places in Ashgabat where you can buy street food.

The bazaar building was built back in 1982, but in 2001 it was “whitewashed” with marble by yet another Turkish company.

40. The market is considered exemplary; under Turkmenbashi, foreign delegations were constantly brought here; it was a mandatory point in the excursion program. Even Putin came to the Russian Bazaar. Under Berdymukhamedov, the tradition was partially preserved. In addition, during the era of Turkmenbashi, the bazaar was the main “office” of the money changers; about two dozen people constantly sold dollars, rubles and euros here. Now money changers are banned, the black currency market has completely shrunk, and the authorities are actively fighting it..

41. Previously, there were two large markets in Ashgabat - Tekinsky and Russian. At the Tekinsky Bazaar, it was mainly locals who traded, and at the Russian Bazaar - representatives of other nations: Russians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians. Nowadays there is no such clear division by nationality.

42. In 2007, the bazaar burned down. Traders say that the fire started around one in the morning, but firefighters did not appear at the market until morning, although there are no traffic jams in Ashgabat. They believe that someone set the bazaar on fire, and the mayor’s office was primarily interested in the arson. The mayor's office, which started the restoration of the clothing market, wanted to drive the traders out of here so that no one would interfere. But officials were apparently afraid to make a radical decision, because the market was very popular among the population. Due to the fire, many merchants lost all their goods and went bankrupt. Clothes are now sold here on the outskirts, and the market itself is mainly food.

43. The health path on the outskirts of the city is 36 kilometers long! Turkmenbashi opened it so that people could walk on it in the mountains and be healthy.

44. On weekends, locals come to the park near the trail and have picnics.

45. Such a crowd of people in one place looks unusual.

46. Such paintings are very rare in Turkmenistan. Usually people do not gather in groups.

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50. Girls mostly wear dresses. I saw almost no one in jeans.

51. There are no traffic jams in Turkmenistan, unless the streets are blocked for the passage of the king.

“The city of love, coolness and abundance” - this is a free interpretation of the word “Ashgabat”. And indeed, against the backdrop of the approaching sands and bare foothills of the Kopetdag, Ashgabat, immersed in lush greenery, seems like a real paradise.

This is the capital of the Republic of Turkmenistan, its political, economic and cultural center. About 900,000 people live here, most of whom are Turkmens, as well as Russians, Armenians and Uzbeks. The city occupies a very advantageous position geographical position: It is located in the south of Turkmenistan and enjoys mild winters and unusually hot summers. From east to west it is bordered by luxurious gardens and vineyards, in the north it is approached by the sands of the Karakum desert, and in the south it rises mountain system Kopetdag. Another feature of the capital's location is high seismic activity. Therefore, the territory of Ashgabat is characterized by weak earthquakes, which occur quite often.

Ashgabat was founded at the end of the 19th century, at a time when almost all of Central Asia was already part of Russia. It, like other cities of the Transcaspian region, does not have a long history. The capital was built for military purposes on the site of a Turkmen settlement in 1881. At that time, the tsarist troops took the Ahal-Teke oasis and needed border fortifications. The village of Ashgabat attracted the military command with its convenient location. The city began to be filled with army institutions, workshops, shops and soon became the administrative center of the Trans-Caspian region. The administration of the future capital was headed by the military administration. In February 1925, Ashgabat (which at that time was called Poltoratsk) was given the official status of the capital of the Turkmen SSR. The city began to grow and develop rapidly, but in 1948 it was overtaken by disaster - a ten-magnitude earthquake. The capital had to be rebuilt almost from scratch. With the new layout of the city, it was decided to maintain the old layout of the streets, but make them straighter and the squares wider and more beautiful.

One of the unofficial names of Ashgabat is the “white marble capital”. The fact is that 543 buildings were erected here, which are lined with white marble. The capital of Turkmenistan, like a bride in a wedding dress, enchants with its whiteness and splendor. And in 2013, Ashgabat was even included in the Guinness Book of Records as the whitest marble city in the world, and this is already its fifth mention on its pages.

Bagt Koshgi Wedding Palace

It is known that the eastern peoples are famous for their generous and luxurious celebrations with a large number guests. A wedding is just one of these rich and large-scale events. The Bagt Koshgi wedding palace fully corresponds to the traditional ideas of the eastern people about the festival. Construction of this grandiose building began in 2009 and was completed in a short time. Two years later, the grand opening of the registry office took place, which was attended by the President of Turkmenistan himself. Bagt Koshgi, or the Palace of Happiness, quickly became one of the symbols of the Turkmen capital.

What does the building look like? This is an impressive eleven-story building. Each side of the Palace is made in the form of an eight-pointed star. There are four entrances to the registry office, symbolizing the number of cardinal directions. The building is crowned by a huge cube, inside of which there is a sphere with a diameter of 32 meters. This is a figurative image of our planet. On the figure itself there is a drawing of a map of Turkmenistan. How appearance Bagt Koshgi and the interior decoration of its premises are made in the Turkmen style. The Palace has nine luxurious halls: six of them are reserved for wedding ceremonies, and three for wedding celebrations.

The Golden Hall “Shamchirag”, which is located on the ninth floor of the registry office, in the very center of the “sphere-planet”, is especially striking in its beauty. Its capacity is small compared to other halls - only 100 seats, but it is here that events marked as especially solemn are held. After the act of marriage, according to established tradition, the newly-made spouses go to the park of the Palace of Happiness. There they plant a tree as a sign of the birth of a new family.

Carpet Museum

In the center of Ashgabat, on Hero Avenue, there is one of the main attractions of the city - the Carpet Museum. It is known that Turkmenistan has long been famous for its carpets. In order to revive, preserve and further develop the skillful traditions of carpet weaving, the President in 1993 issued a decree on the creation of this museum in Ashgabat. Its exhibition halls contain unique and skillfully made carpet products of different styles and eras. Among the thousands of copies is the world's largest handmade carpet with an area of 286 m² (length - 12.9 m, width - 20.82 m), the record holder weighs 1,000 kg. There is also the smallest exhibit, made in the form of a key holder. There is also a whole workshop dedicated to the restoration of antique carpets. Among the most original samples is a carpet portrait of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin. Walking through the halls, you admire the imagination and skill of Turkmen weavers.

Palace of Congresses and Arts "Ruhyet"

Tourists will be interested in visiting the Rukhyet Palace, a congress building located in the government part of Ashgabat. Also, cultural events are periodically held here - performances by famous artists, concerts, creative evenings, and awards. Despite the fact that the palace appeared at the end of the last century, even today it is in no way inferior to the best congress halls on the planet in terms of technical equipment.

Externally, “Rukhiyet” is a grandiose building made in oriental style. Therefore, it looks harmonious against the background of the general architectural ensemble of the city. The interior decoration amazes with the rich decorations and impeccable taste with which the interiors are furnished. Of course, the main palace of the city could not do without a luxurious carpet. The giant carpet “President” greets visitors in the main hall. The area of the product is almost 300 m².

The image of this building can be seen not only on postcards, calendars, guidebooks and various souvenirs - it is also depicted on the banknote of Turkmenistan with a denomination of 10,000 manats.

Central Botanical Garden

It is also worth visiting the Central Botanical Garden of Ashgabat - this is the place where the most amazing and diverse flora from all over the world is concentrated. geographical latitudes peace. It was founded on October 1, 1929, although the first floristic research in this territory began at the end of the 19th century. The collection includes a large collection of valuable plants. For example, coniferous species - Pitsunda pine, Crimean pine; a large collection of shrubs that are selected so that flowering is continuous.

Particular attention should be paid to the rose garden, which contains over five hundred varieties of roses. The garden's collection includes one hundred and twenty varieties of chrysanthemums. In addition, here you can admire many types of palm trees, see a collection of cacti and get acquainted with the rich vegetation of the countries of Central Asia. The Ashgabat Botanical Garden pleases not only with its freshness and fragrant aromas, but also with its pleasant coolness - this is an ideal shelter from the city heat.

Monument to Neutrality

The Monument of Neutrality (simply nicknamed “Treshka”) can deservedly be considered the brightest symbol of modern Turkmenistan. In December 1995, according to a resolution of the UN General Assembly, the Republic of Turkmenistan was officially recognized as the first country in the world with the status of “permanent neutrality”. In honor of this, the then president, Saparmurat Niyazov, ordered the erection of a giant arch monument in the center of Ashgabat. The monument stood in the heart of the city for twelve years since 1998. Now the monument is located on the southern outskirts of the capital.

The height of the structure is 95 m. The structure is supported by three pylons, which, as it were, form a stand for a boiler or tagan. The outside of the building is lined with white marble, and the pylons are decorated with bas-reliefs. Inside the Monument, tourists are greeted by the Museum of Neutrality of Turkmenistan, the exhibits of which tell about the internal and foreign policy republics.

Surprisingly, “Treshka” is a moving object. It rotates slowly in the direction of the sun, making one revolution around its own axis per day. The core of the entire structure is a panoramic elevator. With its help you can climb to observation platforms, from where you can enjoy a beautiful view of the city.

Parthian fortresses of Nisa

Fortresses ancient city Nisa is located 18 km west of the capital of Turkmenistan. The settlement here arose in the 3rd century. BC e. Over the next six centuries, the city was the primary support of the Arsacid dynasty and even served as the capital of Parthia. However, from the 16th century it rapidly declined and early XIX has already turned into ruins. At the moment, the settlement of Old Nisa represents the remains of a royal fortress-residence.

Among the ruins of buildings, two ensembles stand out - Central and Northern. In the first there is a building with a “Round Hall”, which is decorated with clay statues and columns. Also on the territory of the Central Ensemble are the ruins of a palace with a “Square Hall”, decorated with marble statues. The main attraction of the Northern Ensemble is the “Square House” - a vast structure measuring 60x60 m, surrounded by a columned courtyard. Next to the building are twelve rooms in which the most remarkable archaeological finds were made. Most of them relate to items of royal everyday life: parts of the throne, ivory jewelry, marble statues, but most importantly - 2,700 clay tablets with records of the life of the Parthians.

The ruins of the Parthian state are located on a hill from which you can see not only the excavations, but also the Kopetdag mountain itself. In 2007, the ruins of the Parthian fortress were listed World Heritage UNESCO.

Leisure

In the evening, after walking excursions, you can go to the Main Drama Theater of Turkmenistan, which is located in the heart of Ashgabat, on Magtymguly Avenue - one of the key highways of the capital. The repertoire is mostly based on plays by classical and modern Turkmen playwrights; performances are performed in the national language.

If it turns out free time, you can visit the cultural and entertainment center “Alem”, which is made in the form of a huge Turkmen brooch “gulyak”. At the top of the structure is a Ferris wheel with a diameter of 57 meters. The object was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest closed Ferris wheel in the world. On the territory of the center you will find a complex of attractions, a “Space Museum”, a small racing track, and many cafes and restaurants.

Ashgabat also has its own Disneyland - the amusement park “World of Fairy Tales of Turkmenbashi”, which is located in the very center of the city and is divided into five thematic sectors: “Mountain of Fairy Tales”, “World of Adventure”, “World of Turkmen Wonders”, “World of Struggle” and “Paradise”. river". The park is equipped with many attractions and slot machines - there is entertainment for both children and adults.

How to get there

There is one airport in Ashgabat, which bears the name of Saparmurat Turkmenbashi. However, it is not possible to get from Moscow to the capital of Turkmenistan by direct flight. You will have to make a connection in Istanbul, Baku or even Dubai, depending on which airline and flight you choose. Seven airlines fly from Moscow to Ashgabat, but the best option is Turkish Airlines. Planes take off from Vnukovo Airport (less often from Sheremetyevo) and make a transfer in Istanbul, sometimes in Ankara. Another option is an air carrier that flies to the capital of Turkmenistan from Domodedovo Airport. The minimum travel time from Moscow to Ashgabat is eight hours, but if you take into account long transfers, the flight time can reach sixteen or even twenty hours. The most convenient way to get from Ashgabat airport to the city center is by taxi.

Local transport

Public transport in the capital is represented by buses, trolleybuses, taxis (route and regular), monorail, and the railway station of the same name is located on the territory of Ashgabat.

The fare for public transport is 30 Turkmen tenge. The minibus will take you to the desired stop for 1 manat. The taxi driver will take from 2 to 20 manats, all depending on the results of the negotiations and the distance of the train: how far you will have to go from the center.

Payment in public transport in Ashgabat is carried out as follows: money is thrown into a box standing near the driver. You can also buy travel tickets (valid for a month) at the post office.

The monorail, which consists of three cars, runs at eight stops, the total length of the network is 5.1 km.

Hotels

If you crave the most comfortable conditions, then the five-star Nusay Hotel is perfect option. The rooms here are equipped with everything you need: shower, air conditioning, safe, minibar, telephone, hairdryer, TV, Wi-fi network. Also on site there is a bar, spa, indoor pool, fashion shops, and laundry. And if even on vacation you prefer active recreation, you can use the services gym and for a separate price a tennis court. In the evening, the nightclub opens for all visitors.

For people arriving on a business visit, the Margush Hotel is suitable. In addition to the usual amenities, the rooms include satellite TV, a desk, and the Internet. The rooms are furnished simply, without frills.

Two and three star hotels provide a minimum level of service. It is better to check with the administration about the availability of a bathroom in the room upon check-in. The number of additional services is also limited. But if you do not plan to spend a lot of time within four walls, then these factors will not bother you much. You can use the services of the hotels “Ahal”, “Independent”, “Nebitchi”, “Lachin”.

Restaurants

Ashgabat cuisine is represented by a wide variety of dishes. Restaurants national cuisine They treat their visitors to delicious pilaf, of which more than thirty varieties can be found here. Restaurants MAEDEM, Asuda Nusay, and Restoran Soltan specialize in preparing this dish.

When in Ashgabat, you can’t help but try the white fish of the Caspian Sea. Even real gourmets will appreciate it. Locals especially recommend the Asuda Nusay restaurant (Alisher Navoi Street), where stellate sturgeon and sturgeon are excellently prepared.

If you don’t have enough time for a full lunch, you can treat yourself to an Ashgabat fast drink - it is represented by manti (dumplings with steamed minced lamb) and various “dense” flour products (pies with potatoes, onions, meat). Cafes with similar menus are found almost everywhere. Among others, the most famous is AYA.

Shopping

The color of Ashgabat is given by its noisy and colorful bazaars. So you should look for the best souvenirs and expensive items here.

The bazaar, popularly nicknamed “Tolkuchka”, is very famous. On Saturdays and Sundays, life here is simply in full swing! Here you will find everything your heart desires: from decorative lampshades to a dressing gown. The bazaar is located close to the airport. It is best to get here in the morning, since by 14:00 the sellers begin to remove the goods.

Fruits and vegetables, various accessories, clothes and other sundries can be bought at the Russian Gulistan bazaar, which is located in the very center of Ashgabat and is one of the largest bazaars in the city. On its territory there are many eateries where you can try traditional dishes Turkmenistan.

The largest and most popular stores in Ashgabat are the Yimpas shopping center, the Berkarar shopping center, and the Paytagt shopping center. These are huge complex platforms where a wide variety of branded products are presented: from fashionable clothing to perfumes. Prices in boutiques are also extremely different from each other.

Finally, the main “carpet” place in the capital of Turkmenistan is the store at the Carpet Museum. The choice here is extremely diverse: you can easily find a product that suits your heart and wallet. But it’s worth considering that knotted carpets made of silk and wool are the most expensive, while felt mats “Koshma” are cheaper (and no less attractive).

It turned out to be something unreal. Half a city of white marble, many new houses and neighborhoods. Buildings are erected not just as individual buildings, but as entire complexes, streets, into which thousands of families move. Most people get housing for free, or for half the cost with installments for 30 years at 1% per annum. An abundance of parks, which in sandy and desert conditions is a very wasteful enterprise. And the pillars are something incredible! Probably nowhere in the world is there such a cult of pillars as in Ashgabat. Beautiful and bright, high-quality and expensive, laconic and complex with national ornaments - they are all “stuck” literally every two meters. The whole city is constantly being cleaned, like sailors cleaning the deck. We drove through the center in the morning - women were washing the railings with a rag. We returned the same way in the evening - the same railings, but other women had washed them again.

In all this splendor, there is only one thing that confuses us - the absence of people. Green parks are empty, and only a few dozen cars pass per hour on ideal roads...

There is a lifeless zone around Ashgabat. This is like a reminder of what the garden city was built on - from scratch:

They try to grow trees, sparing no water or money for its delivery:

Ashgabat comes close to the mountains behind which Iran begins:

There is no standard building, all houses are different. Identical buildings are present only on certain streets:

Parking cars on the street side in front of houses is prohibited, but most houses have underground garages:

Air conditioning units have been removed from the façade to the roof:

The flag of Turkmenistan flies above every building:

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House from the courtyard side. Entrance to the parking lot:

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Underground crossing:

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On the left is the building of Turkmenhaly - the Ministry of Carpet. It unites 10 carpet-making enterprises, where 10 thousand carpet weavers work. In 2001, the largest hand-woven carpet in the world was woven here, and in 2003 it was included in the Guinness Book of Records: 300 square meters:

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Yildiz ("Star" in Turkmen) is a modern five-star hotel that opened this year. In the next post I will show it inside:

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The original registry office was built on the hill opposite the hotel. It is a small country for newlyweds. There is everything: cultural and methodological center, school family traditions, shops, rental points, photo and beauty salon, banquet halls, hotel and 6 halls for ceremonial registration. True, during the two times that I drove up to the registry office, I never saw anyone getting married. Maybe it's not the season:

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A block near the closed Ferris wheel. Closed not in the sense of operating mode, but in the sense of design features:

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Although the buildings are made of glass and concrete, traditional motifs can be discerned in them:

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Many are behind the fence and under police protection:

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Government Quarter. In the center is “Chupa Chups” with a golden Turkmenbashi. No photography allowed:

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Road to the presidential palace. If I'm not mistaken, it's an old palace with green "domes":

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With gold - the new Oguzkhan palace complex:

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Golden monuments of Turkmenbashi are not very common:

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I will show the main monument (in the distance, on a huge pedestal) separately:

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Road to the monument:

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Here he is. Previously, the golden sculpture of Turkmenbashi rotated throughout the day, following the sun. Now the monument has been moved from the center, and it is being built motionless. There is an opinion on Lurka that in fact, this sun rotated after Turkmenbashi, and now it is spinning by itself by inertia.

There is an elevator on the left leg, you can go up:

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The monument offers beautiful views of the city:

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A park. There are no people at all:

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Eternal flame:

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Ferris wheel:

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I don’t know what you can see through it, with such and such concrete walls:

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Five-star hotel Star Yildiz:

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Monument to the Constitution of Turkmenistan. Inside the complex there is a museum, a conference hall, a meeting room, a library and a souvenir shop:

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But it’s all closed and you can’t get inside without a special invitation:

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The Olympic cauldron is being built. I saw Olympic symbols, although I have never seen any official mention of any sporting events in Turkmenistan:

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Iran is just beyond the mountains, we will get there soon, but there are two more posts about Ashgabat ahead. Stay Tuned!

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= The Caspian is a sea of friendship. Contents =

Around the Caspian Sea. Western Kazakhstan. Aktau	Start. Western Kazakhstan	Border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan
Kara-Bogaz-Gol and Avaza Resort	Turkmenbashi city	Balkanabad, market and road to Ashgabat
Gas stations in Dagestan and Chechnya	Freedom of the media in Turkmenistan	Fantastic Ashgabat
Fantastic Ashgabat. White City	Ashgabat. Life	Road from Turkmenistan to Iran
Trophy sport in Iran

Ashgabat (Aşgabat) is the capital of Turkmenistan, the largest city in the country, located in the southwestern part of the country, in the foothills of the Kopetdag. This city lies on the very edge of a vast, hot desert area within a large natural oasis. The city of Ashgabat is located just 25 km from the border of Turkmenistan with Iran.

The city was founded in 1881 as a military border fortified point, at an important crossroads of several trade routes. From 1881 to 1919 the city was called Askhabad, and in 1919 - 1927 it was called Poltoratsk - in honor of the local revolutionary P. G. Poltoratsky. Only in 1927 did it receive its current name, which can be translated as “City of Love”. Today its population is about 830 thousand people.

For some time after Turkmenistan gained independence, the capital of the state in Russian reading was officially called Ashgabat, because This transcription is closer to the Turkmen pronunciation. Now the city is called Ashgabat in official documents.

The city was founded on the site of an ancient Turkmen settlement and initially consisted of numerous small clay houses and orchards located on straight, planned streets. Due to the constant threat of earthquakes, only one-story houses were allowed to be built here. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the city's population was only about 35 thousand people.

Until 1918, Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) was the administrative center of the Trans-Caspian region, and from 1918 to 1925 - the center of the Turkmen region. In 1925, the city became the capital of the Turkmen SSR. In 1991, after the country gained independence, Ashgabat officially became the capital of the state.

In 1948, on October 6, at 1.17 am, as a result of a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 9-10 points, Ashgabat was almost completely destroyed. On this day, more than half of the city’s population died – about 110 thousand! All the old buildings were destroyed. For five years after this event, the ruins were a closed area, and after that, for twenty years, specialists from all over the Soviet Union participated in the restoration, or rather, in the construction of the city.

For this reason, the city is mostly built up with typical Soviet buildings. During active construction in the 50s - 60s of the 20th century, the city's districts became larger, the streets were expanded, and a large number of new districts and green areas. After 1991, active construction began in Ashgabat, a large number of new multi-storey buildings appeared, new microdistricts grew, and old buildings were renovated (many of them were decorated with marble). Now the map of the city of Ashgabat has a completely different look - a modern and developed cultural center.

Among the city's attractions it is worth mentioning the Arch of Neutrality - the tallest building in the country (on its top there is a statue of Turkmenbashi), the Presidential Palace, the Mejlis Building, the Academic City Theater named after. Mollanepesa, Bayram Khan monument and Lenin Square, Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan, etc. Also interesting to visit are Orthodox Church Alexander Nevsky, and the large and beautiful Ertogrulgazy Mosque. In addition, the largest circus in the country is located in Ashgabat.

Ashgabat is an eastern city and, like all eastern cities, it is famous for its original, colorful, bright and noisy bazaars. The largest and most popular is the Dzhygyllyk - Tolkuchka bazaar, which stretches for several kilometers along the city outskirts. You can buy almost everything here, but what attracts tourists most of all is the opportunity to find authentic Turkmen costumes and unique carpets, which are brought here for sale from all over the country. In addition to Tolkuchka, there are about a dozen other, smaller markets in the city.

An unusual and extremely interesting attraction to visit is the Carpet Museum. This is the only museum of its kind in the world! Several hundred unique carpets from different parts countries belonging to different eras. The oldest carpet presented here dates back to the 17th century. It is also worth visiting National Museum history and ethnography, which contains many amazing finds that tell about the development of the country and the Turkmen people.

People interested in history and its monuments should visit the ruins of an ancient city, the capital of the Parthian state, Nysa, 3rd century BC, located 18 km west of the capital. – 3rd century AD A large number of important, unique finds were discovered here - clay tablets with inscriptions, business documents, works of art, etc. The ruins of city blocks, fortresses, palaces and temples have been preserved here.

A few kilometers southwest of Ashgabat lies a popular mountain resort. Where can you make an unforgettable walking, visit the Baharden cave with a very large underground lake Kou-Ata, which is also called the “Father of Lakes,” and admire the picturesque mountain views.

Now Ashgabat is a major political, administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. There are more than 40 large industrial facilities here, including oil refining, chemical, pharmaceutical, metalworking and other industries. Carpet weaving from cotton and astrakhan wool also occupies an important place.

Public transport in the city includes trolleybuses and buses. The city government intends to soon begin construction of the metro. In the northern part of the city there is the largest international airport in the country. Saparmurat Turkmenbashi, which connects Ashgabat with the countries of Europe, the CIS and Far East. A modern railway also passes through the city, connecting the capital with other regions of the country.

According to local residents and tourists, Ashgabat has amazingly blossomed over the years of independence. Now it is often called the “white marble capital of Turkmenistan” and people are rightfully proud of its beauty and originality. It is interesting that in the city at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century a large number of toponyms appeared in honor of President Turkmenbashi - there is Turkmenbashi Street, and Turkmenbashi Square, and a park, and an avenue, etc. and so on.