- This is one of the most beautiful cities in Central Asia, five times honored with a place in the famous Guinness Book of Records. The capital impresses with its splendor, rich white marble architecture, fountain complexes. But the history of Ashgabat knows many other, less joyful events.

From fortress to city

The history of Ashgabat began in 1881, after the expansion of the borders of the Russian Empire. The tsarist troops reached the Akhal-Teke oasis, occupied its territories and the lands on which the village of Askhabad, a small Teke settlement, was located.

First of all, the soldiers erected a fortress, this military fortification became the starting point for the emergence of a new settlement on the map of the empire. People began to settle around the fortress, gradually its military significance faded into the background. The settlement before our eyes turned into a lively, fast-growing city, as there were two reasons contributing to this: a good geographical position - at the crossroads of economic and trade routes; the presence of fresh water and building materials, wood, pebbles, clay.

The construction of the railway contributed to the increase in the population, many people were ready to travel thousands of kilometers in search of work and money. Those who built the road remained to live in Ashgabat, many merchants from different countries also came, there were religious refugees.

City in the 20th century

At the end of the 19th century, more than 30 thousand people lived in the city, which is interesting, the indigenous people made up only 1.5%. On a national basis, the population was divided into the following categories: Persians - about 11 thousand people; Russians - more than 10 thousand people; Armenians and other nationalities - 14.6 thousand people.

The city itself consisted of one-story houses, mostly adobe, surrounded by fruit trees. They were afraid to build multi-storey buildings, since earthquakes occurred quite often, leaving behind significant destruction.

The history of Ashgabat is briefly divided into two periods - before and after 1918. Until this year, the settlement was part of the Russian Empire, was the main city of the Transcaspian region. The October events of 1917 echoed in Ashgabat, a year later Soviet power was established here, until 1925 the city was in the status of a regional center. Since 1925, it has been the capital of Turkmenistan, however, the city at that time was called Poltoratsk - after the name of a famous Bolshevik.

Ashgabat, the capital of independent Turkmenistan, is a large administrative center, a city of dreams and love, whose magnificent architectural ensemble harmoniously fits into the space between the vast Karakum desert and the spurs of the mountains. In the place of the dilapidated old buildings, a new urban environment arose in a surprisingly short time. Ashgabat has been repeatedly included in the Guinness Book of Records.

origin of name

Persian words, translated meaning "love" and "city", "populated place", formed the basis of the name of the city. From the time of the conquest of Turkmenistan by the Russian Empire in 1881 until 1919, the city was called "Ashabad".

In 1919, in honor of the revolutionary figure P. G. Poltoratsky, the city was renamed into Poltoratsk. In 1927 the city was named Ashgabat.

In 1921, after Turkmenistan gained independence, a number of names of settlements were changed. The city of Ashgabat officially began to be called Ashgabat, it is this form that most of all corresponds to the Turkmen name.

The official Russian media use the name Ashgabat, in accordance with the Decree of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation of 1995. Currently, in the texts of legislative acts of Turkmenistan in Russian, on the official websites of the capital, in the official media of Turkmenistan, the city is called Ashgabat.

Geographical characteristic

Ashgabat is located in the south of Turkmenistan, on the Turan lowland, 25 km from the border with Iran.

The capital of Turkmenistan is located on the Kopetdag foothill plain in the Akhal-Teke oasis. The Kopetdag mountains approach from the south side, the Karakum desert from the north.

In 1962, the Karakum Canal was built to Ashgabat, thus solving the problem of supplying the city with water.

Climate subtropical inland, with hot summers and mild, cold (relative to this latitude) winters. Ashgabat is one of the very hot cities in the world, where temperatures can rise above +45 °C in summer. In summer, there is almost no rainfall. During short winters, the temperature is very variable, with strong intrusions from the northern side of the Arctic air, frosts occur even below -10 °C. Only in severe winters does a permanent snow cover form. In Ashgabat, the average annual temperature is +17 C.

Story

On the site of the Turkmen settlement-fortress in 1881, the city of Askhabad was founded as the administrative center of the Trans-Caspian region and the military frontier fortification of the Russian Empire.

City streets were designed to be straight. One-story clay houses surrounded orchards. After the earlier earthquakes, multi-storey adobe buildings were not erected.

In 1925, the city of Ashgabat (at that time - Poltoratsk) was officially given the status of the capital of the Turkmen SSR.

In 1948, an earthquake of enormous destructive force (9-10 points) occurred in Ashgabat, destroying up to 98% of all buildings. Currently, in Turkmenistan it is believed that up to 176 thousand people died then.

In the capital of Turkmenistan in 2003, the names of all streets were replaced with serial numbers. The exception was nine main highways named after Turkmenbashi and his relatives, as well as the poet Magtymguly.

In 2008, there was a performance of armed militants, which went down in history as the "Ashgabat rebellion." The authorities used heavy armored vehicles to suppress the rebels located in the Khitrovka metropolitan area. Eyewitnesses reported that explosions and gunfire were heard in the north of the capital during the weekend. According to official figures, the militants were involved in drug trafficking. And independent sources reported that radical oppositionists became opponents of the military.

Architecture

During the period of the Russian Empire, the administrative center was dominated by adobe houses with flat roofs.

During the Soviet period, the capital of Turkmenistan was built up with modern buildings, but in October 1948 it was destroyed by an earthquake, after which it was rebuilt. Blocks were enlarged in the city, streets were expanded, microdistricts were created and green recreation areas were equipped.

During the Soviet period, buildings were built in Ashgabat, which later became city architectural sights: the building of the Council of Ministers of the Republic; the building of the Academic Drama Theater named after Mollanepes; management building "Karakumstroy" (now demolished); a complex of buildings of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan; the building of the State Republican Library; the building of the Turkmen State Circus; the building of the Russian Bazaar; the building of the Mekan Palace, decorated with sculptural reliefs.

In the square named after V.I. Lenin, a monument to Lenin was erected (1927). In 1970, a monument was erected to the soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War.

After the collapse of the USSR, since 1991, the capital began to be built up pointwise with high-rise residential and administrative buildings, as well as public buildings. In modern Ashgabat, buildings are built mainly in the oriental architectural style. Most mosques, skyscrapers, houses and sidewalks are decorated with beautiful white marble.

TV and radio broadcasting center "Turkmenistan"– TV and radio communication tower is considered a symbol of Ashgabat and is a tourist attraction. The tower is located near Ashgabat, on one of the mountain ranges of the Kopetdag. The highest architectural structure of Turkmenistan has a height of 211 meters.

Construction work began in 2008. And in October 2011, the opening ceremony of the telecommunications facility was held, which was attended by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

The main function of the tower is to hold and maintain television and radio communication antennas. The coverage radius of the antenna signal is one hundred kilometers. In addition, a tourist center is organized here, which has a wide variety of interesting sights. At the moment, the tower transmits digital and analog television and radio signals.

On the 29th floor, at a height of 145 meters, there is a restaurant. The rotating platform on which the restaurant is located provides a panoramic view, so you can admire both the local natural landscapes and the views of the Turkmen capital. The interior design of the restaurant combines both modern trends in architectural styles and elements of national decor. On the 28th floor, at a height of 140 meters, there is a VIP room.

Two viewing platforms are available for visitors at the TV and Radio Broadcasting Center "Turkmenistan" - the main and special observatories, opening a 360-degree view. On the 30th floor, at a height of 150 meters, there is the Main Observatory, from where it is convenient for tourists to look at modern Ashgabat and the picturesque expanses of the Kopetdag foothills.

The TV tower is adorned with the octagonal "Star of Oguz Khan", which is recognized as the world's largest architectural image of a star and is included in the Guinness Book of Records. From anywhere in the capital and its suburbs, you can see the TV tower.

Wedding Palace "Bagt Koshgi" opened in 2011. By order of the Government of Turkmenistan, the Ashgabat Wedding Palace was built by the Turkish construction company Polimeks.

The building of eleven floors has an area of ​​more than 38 thousand square meters. meters and is a three-stage structure, each side of which is depicted in the form of an eight-pointed star. The cube towering on huge columns forms the upper step and contains a ball with a diameter of 32 meters, symbolizing the planet Earth with a map of Turkmenistan. Four entrances serve as symbols of the four cardinal directions.

The interior of the Palace is made in the Turkmen style. The center has six halls for ceremonial registration of marriages and each has its own name, for celebrations there are three wedding halls, of which two are designed for 500, and one for 1000 seats. The golden wedding hall called "Shamchirag" is located on the ninth floor of the building, in the central part of the "ball".

In addition, the Palace has 36 shops, seven banquet halls, two cafes, a wedding dress salon, salons of various necessary wedding services, car wedding decoration points, jewelry and national jewelry rental, a beauty salon, a photo studio, a hotel with 22 comfortable rooms. The third and fourth floors are occupied by administrative offices and an archive. Below the building is a closed parking lot for three hundred cars.

Two architectural landmarks of the city - the TV and Radio Broadcasting Center "Turkmenistan" and the three-stage construction of the Wedding Palace "Bagt Koshgi" - in September 2012 were awarded at the international award "International Property Awards Europe" in the nomination "Architecture of public buildings".

It stands out for its architectural scope. "Monument of Neutrality", also known as Arc of Neutrality, which existed on the central square from 1998 to 2010. This is one of the most famous symbols of the reign of Niyazov (Turkmenbashi). The "Arch of Neutrality" in 2010-2011 was dismantled and moved to the southern part of the city of Ashgabat. The "Monument of Neutrality" was reopened in 2011.

The arch was erected by order of Saparmurat Niyazov in 1996-1998 by the Turkish company Polimex. The grand opening ceremony took place in December 1998.

The multi-level structure, 83 meters high, crowned with a 12-meter gilded sculpture of the President of Turkmenistan Turkmenbashi against the background of a waving flag, is supported by three widely spread pylons. The monumental composition slowly rotates in the course of the sun's movement, while making a complete revolution around its axis during the day. The axis of the entire structure is a panoramic elevator that leads to circular observation platforms, from where a view of Ashgabat opens.

In 2010, the gilded statue of Niyazov at the top of the Arch of Neutrality and the Arch itself were dismantled. The country's authorities decided to move the Arch of Neutrality in order to improve the architectural appearance of the city. A monument was recreated in the form of a "Monument of Neutrality" on Bitarap Turkmenistan Avenue (ie Neutral Turkmenistan) in the southern part of Ashgabat, in the foothills of the Kopetdag. The height of the new monument was 95 meters, which is 20 meters higher than the previous Arch.

A business is being created on the Archabil Highway center "Ashgabat-city". Buildings of ministries and departments, research, educational and cultural centers were built according to exclusive projects.

In the modern architecture of the capital, infill development with high-rise (mainly 12-story) buildings has become an accepted norm. These are residential towers, in which the first floors are occupied by service departments and retail space. Many buildings, even old ones, are lined with white marble.

Among the modern architectural structures, the Turkmenbashi and Rukhyet palaces, the Arch of Neutrality, business centers, the TV and Radio Broadcasting Center "Turkmenistan", parks and fountains are of interest to tourists. In Independence Park, you can breathe fresh clean air surrounded by sculptures of famous great figures of the Turkmen people - from the mythical Oguz Khan and the Seljuk sultans to spiritual leaders and poets.

It turned out to be something unreal. Half a city of white marble, many new houses and neighborhoods. Buildings are erected not just as separate buildings, but as whole complexes, streets, into which thousands of families enter. Most housing is free, or for half the cost with installments for 30 years at 1% per annum. The abundance of parks, which in the conditions of sand and desert is a very wasteful enterprise. And the pillars are amazing! Probably, nowhere in the world there is such a cult of pillars as in Ashgabat. Beautiful and bright, solid and expensive, laconic and complex with national ornaments - all of them are "stumbled" literally every two meters. The whole city is continuously cleaned, like sailors deck. We drove through the center in the morning - women washed the railings with a rag. They returned the same way in the evening - the same railings, but already other women washed up again.

In all this magnificence, only one thing confuses - the lack of people. Green parks are empty, and only a few dozen cars per hour pass on ideal roads...

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

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They try to grow trees, sparing no water and funds for its delivery:

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Ashgabat comes close to the mountains behind which Iran begins:

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

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It is forbidden to park cars from the side of the street in front of the houses, but most houses have underground garages:

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Air-conditioned blocks removed from the facade to the roof:

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The flag of Turkmenistan flutters over each building:

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House from the yards. 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 weaving enterprises, where 10 thousand carpet weavers work. In 2001, the largest handmade carpet in the world was woven here, and in 2003 it was entered in the Guinness Book of Records - 300 square meters:

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

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Opposite the hotel on a hill, an original registry office was built. It has a small country for honeymooners. There is everything: a cultural and methodological center, a school of family traditions, shops, rental offices, a photo and beauty salon, banquet halls, a hotel and 6 halls for solemn registration. True, for those two times that I drove up to the registry office, I never saw the couple. Maybe not the season

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

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Although the buildings are built of glass and concrete, traditional motifs are guessed in them:

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Many are behind the fence and under police protection:

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Government Quarter. In the center - "Chupa-Chups" with golden Turkmenbashi. No photography allowed:

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The road to the presidential palace. If I'm not mistaken, with green "domes" - the old palace:

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With gold - the new palace complex Oguzhan:

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Golden monuments of Turkmenbashi are not so 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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There he is. Previously, the golden sculpture of Turkmenbashi rotated during the day, following the sun. Now the monument has been moved from the center, and it is still building. 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 climb:

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The monument offers beautiful views of the city:

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The 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 Zvezda 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 gift shop:

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Only all this is closed and you can’t get inside without a special invitation:

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Building the Olympic cauldron. I saw the Olympic symbols, although I have not seen any official mention of any sporting events in Turkmenistan anywhere:

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

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= The Caspian is the sea of ​​friendship. table of contents =

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

Ashgabat from A to Z: map, hotels, attractions, restaurants, entertainment. Shopping, shops. Photos, videos and reviews about Ashgabat.

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The capital of Turkmenistan Ashgabat, like most of its “brothers” in the Central Asian capitals, traces its history from a modest settlement of the Tekin tribe. This Turkic-speaking people once took a fancy to a small plot of land in the foothills of the Kopetdag mountain range at the intersection of caravan roads and gave the new place the poetic name Eshg-Abad, which literally means "populated by lovers." At the end of the 19th century troops of the Russian Empire came to Eshg-Abad and founded a military garrison, then laid a railway, and by the beginning of the 20th century, an inconspicuous settlement turned into a completely modern city of 30,000 people. Today Ashgabat is an amazingly beautiful snow-white city, where authentic oriental flavor and European spirit perfectly complement each other: here you can still wander all day in the narrow passages of noisy bazaars, and then relax in the lounge bar overlooking the Presidential Palace.

How to get to Ashgabat

From Moscow to Ashgabat you can arrive by flights of "Turkmenistan Airlines", departing from the capital of our country on all days of the week, except Sunday. Another air carrier, S7, flies to the capital of Turkmenistan from Moscow's Domodedovo twice a week - on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

From the airport of Turkmenistan. The Great Saparmurat Turkmenbashi is easily accessible to the city center by taxi or "private trader" - the trip will cost about 5-6 USD, the exact price should be clarified when landing.

Prices on the page are for September 2018.

Search flights to Ashgabat

Transport in the city

It is most convenient to travel around Ashgabat by taxi, since they are extremely cheap and almost every car, both with checkers and without them, is ready to take you to an arbitrarily long distance. The fare must be discussed before boarding the car.

You can also ride trolleybuses and buses in the city - more for the sake of exotic than for business. Traveling in them is even cheaper than in a taxi, but the speed is much lower.

Cuisine and restaurants of Ashgabat

Ashgabat fast food - manti (dumplings with steamed minced lamb) and a variety of "dense" pies with meat, onions and potatoes. In restaurants of national cuisine, you can eat pilaf to the fullest - there are more than 30 varieties of it, as well as try a variety of exotic meat: camel meat, mountain goat and other wild artiodactyls. Exceptions are pork (according to the norms of religion) and horse meat, which is prohibited by law.

Another gastronomic "trick" of Turkmenistan is the white fish of the Caspian Sea. Sturgeon and stellate sturgeon are especially delicious at Asuda Nusay, on Alisher Navoi Street. In addition, in Ashgabat there are a lot of establishments of friendly cuisines - mainly Central Asian, Iranian and Middle Eastern. It is worth visiting the Lebanese Dip Club for shawarma, the Turkish Erzurum for the national pide pizza, and the Asian Minara.

Shopping and stores

For inexpensive souvenirs and expensive works of applied art, head to the bazaar with a simple and clear name "flea market", buzzing with life on Saturdays and Sundays near the airport (it's worth taking a taxi). Here you can buy everything your heart desires - from a lamb skin and a skullcap to a colorful robe and an intricate carpet. The flea market closes its activities by about 2:00 pm, so it is recommended to go there in the morning. At the Russian bazaar "Gulistan" you can buy fruits and vegetables, clothes, interior items and other usual market stuff.

The main "carpet" place in Ashgabat is the store at the Museum of Carpets. The cost of products - from 10 USD for a modest felt bedding to 500 USD for an immaculately woven beautiful carpet. Printed products - books, albums, postcards, etc. can be found in the bookstore under the Ministry of Culture and Miras (in the very center of the city, side by side with the University).

Paintings should be found in the art gallery "Muhammed".

Entertainment and attractions of Ashgabat

Considering the short “adult” history of Ashgabat, there are no ancient monuments on its territory. In the vicinity (15 km to the west) it is worth visiting the ruins of the ancient settlement of Nisa dating back to the 1st millennium BC. e., since 2007 included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The city was once the capital of the powerful Parthian kingdom and was founded by King Mithridates I. Here you can see the remains of two fortresses - Old and New Nisa, the royal residence and "office", respectively, as well as temples, palace halls, the royal treasury and the graves of the Arsacids dynasty.

Also 15 km from Ashgabat, but in the other direction, is the native village of Turkmenbashi Kipchak. Here you can see how a tidy sum of 100 million dollars was embodied in a white marble mosque, you know whose name you know. Its total area is 18 thousand (!) sq. m. km, and the prayer hall can simultaneously accommodate 10,000 believers. Here, in the sarcophagus, the hero of the occasion rests.

Another gastronomic "trick" of Turkmenistan is the white fish of the Caspian Sea. Sturgeon and stellate sturgeon are especially tasty.

It is interesting to visit the museums of Ashgabat - the wonderful Museum of Carpets, which tells about the history of carpet weaving, traditions and ways of weaving carpets, and also exhibits many artifacts - from the oldest copy (17th century) to the modern giant of 301 square meters. m, called "The Golden Age of the Great Saparmurat Turkmenbashi". In the National Museum, you can learn more about the history of the country and see items found at the excavations of Merv, Nisa, Kunya-Urgench, and in the Museum of Fine Arts, you can appreciate the works of Russian, European and Central Asian artists on the Turkmen theme. The National Treasury exhibits silver jewelry for women and horses (!) and copies of the golden sculptures of Altyn-tepe.

You should definitely walk around the colorful medieval bazaars: the huge Dzhygyllyk, Gulistan, Lalezar and the Tekinsky bazaar.

Among the architectural structures of our time, the palaces of Turkmenbashi and Rukhyet, the Monument of Independence and the Arch of Neutrality, business centers, parks and fountains stand out. You can breathe fresh air surrounded by sculptures of the great figures of the Turkmen people - from the mythical Oguz Khan to the Seljuk sultans, spiritual leaders and poets - in Independence Park.

The city of Ashgabat is the capital of independent and neutral Turkmenistan, the largest administrative, political, transport, trade, scientific and cultural center of the country.

The name of the city comes from the combination of two words "ashk" - love and "abad" - city. Therefore, the Turkmen capital is often called the "city of love", and also the city of youth, eternal youth - the companion of love.

Ashgabat is located in the south of Turkmenistan, 25 km north of the border with Iran, from which it is separated by the Kopetdag ridge with a foothill plain, on the other hand, the great desert of Karakum adjoins the city almost very close.

These places have been chosen by man since time immemorial. Settlements on the territory of modern Ashgabat date back to the Neolithic era, i.e. VI millennium BC The entire foothill strip of the Kopetdag at that time was a chain of agricultural oases with small settlements. About 2500 years ago, a small fortified town arose on this site.

In 1881, on the site of the settlement of Askhabad with an ancient fortress, a frontier military fortification arose, and Askhabad itself became the administrative center of the Transcaspian region. From 1919 to 1927 the city was called Poltoratsk. With the formation of the Turkmen SSR on October 27, 1924, the city became the capital of the republic, and in 1927 it was given the national name Ashgabat.

For a long time, low-rise construction was carried out here due to the seismicity of the area. In 1948, a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 9-10 in the epicentral region occurred in Ashgabat, one of the largest earthquakes of the 20th century. The city was completely destroyed - wiped off the face of the earth! According to various estimates, from 1/2 to 2/3 of the city's population died that day.

Raised from the ruins, Ashgabat was rebuilt and since then has increased its territory many times over.

The third birth of the capital began with the acquisition of state independence by Turkmenistan. Today, Ashgabat continues large-scale construction of schools and preschool institutions, luxury housing, sports and other social facilities, as well as the reconstruction and commissioning of engineering communications and power lines. When shaping the modern image of the capital, much attention is paid to the improvement and landscaping of the territory.

Now the white marble Ashgabat has become one of the most beautiful and comfortable cities in the world, expanding its borders and growing with new residential areas, industrial and park areas.

The transport system of Ashgabat is represented by road, rail and air transport. The capital has an international airport. Ashgabat is the largest communication center of Turkmenistan. A developed network of television and radio communications, digital satellite communications has been created here.

The capital is a major trading center. In the total volume of retail trade turnover of the country, the share of Ashgabat in 2014 amounted to more than 53 percent.

There are 20 higher educational institutions and about 140 secondary schools in the capital. Ashgabat has large research and design institutes.

The capital of Turkmenistan is a cultural and sports center with 6 theaters, 5 state museums and other centers of culture, large sports facilities, including the Olympic Village, the Olympic Water Sports Complex, the Ice Palace and the Winter Sports Complex, an equestrian sports complex.

The city has a recreational institution - Berzengi hydropathic, many parks and recreation areas, leisure centers.

The most outstanding sights of Ashgabat were included in the Guinness Book of Records. Among them are the Ferris wheel of the cultural and entertainment center "Älem", the star of Oguz Khan of the Center for Television and Radio Broadcasting "Turkmenistan". Prior to this, Ashgabat was noted as the city with the largest number of fountains united in a complex: we are talking about the architectural and sculptural ensemble "Oguz Khan". Ashgabat first appeared on the pages of the Book of Records in 2008 thanks to the highest flagpole at that time.