Ashgabat, or Ashgabat (Turkmen: Aşgabat) is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan; the largest administrative-political, industrial, scientific and cultural center of the state. It is a separate administrative-territorial unit of Turkmenistan – a city with the rights of a velayat.
The history of Ashgabat begins with the Parthian city of Kondzhikala (2nd century BC – 13th century AD), through which the Great Silk Road passed in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, Ashgabat was a city trading with neighboring states; the city reached a new level of development in 1881
On May 25, 2013, the city was included in the Guinness Book of Records for the fifth time as the most white marble city in the world (543 new buildings faced with white marble). Previously, this edition included such landmarks of the Turkmen capital as the fifth-tallest flagpole in the world (133 meters), the largest fountain complex (27 synchronized fountains), the largest closed-type Ferris wheel, and the largest architectural image of a star – the eight-pointed star of Oguz Khan on the TV tower. Also in 2024, a memorial to the great Turkmen medieval writer Magtymguly Fragi was opened.
- The Main Flag of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Türkmenistanyň Baş Baýdagy) is, as of August 2015, the fifth-tallest free-standing flagpole in the world. It is 133 meters high. It is located in Ashgabat, at the intersection of Garashsyzlyk and Archabil avenues, and was installed on June 26, 2008. The weight of the national flag of Turkmenistan, which flutters on this flagpole, is 420 kilograms. The flag measures 52.5 by 35 meters. There is a guard of honor at the flagpole.
- “Oguzkhan and Sons” (Turkmen: “Oguzhan we onuň ogullary” fontan kompleksy) is a fountain complex and one of the main symbols of Ashgabat. It is located on the highway leading from the International Airport to the city center. The complex’s lighting system operates using solar energy.
- The Ferris wheel, installed above the restaurant of the Alem center, is designed for 24 six-seater cabins. The steel structure of the Ferris wheel is designed in the shape of the Oguz Khan star and openwork decorations in the form of national göl ornaments, reminiscent of the dial of a sundial, topped with a 17-meter spire. Special equipment maintains an optimal microclimate inside the cabins. Observation decks are also equipped on the terraces of the base pyramid, which in turn is located on a granite stepped platform of the entire structure.
- The Turkmenistan Television and Radio Broadcasting Center (Turkmen: “Türkmenistan” teleradio merkezi) is a television and radio communications tower located on one of the Kopetdag mountain ranges, not far from Ashgabat. The height of the tower is 211 meters, which makes it the tallest architectural structure in Turkmenistan.
- The Bagt Koshgi Wedding Palace (Turkmen: Bagt köşgi) was opened in 2011. The eleven-story building with an area of over 38,000 square meters is a three-tiered structure, each side of which is shaped like an eight-pointed star. A cube, rising on large columns, forms its upper step and contains a sphere with a diameter of 32 meters – a symbolic planet Earth with an image of a map of Turkmenistan. The four entrances to the building symbolize the four cardinal directions.
- The Arch of Neutrality (Turkmen: Bitaraplyk binasy) is a monument in Ashgabat that existed from 1998 to 2010 on the central square. One of the most famous symbols of the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi). In 2010-2011. The Arch of Neutrality was dismantled and moved to a new location – in the southern part of Ashgabat. On December 12, 2011, the Arch of Neutrality was reopened.
- Monument to Magtymguly Fragi. The height of the monument, installed on a natural hill, is 60 meters, and the pedestal, on which the winged lines from the poem of the great humanist and thinker of the East “The Future of Turkmenistan” and lines from the poem of the Hero Arkadag “The Storehouse of Reason of Magtymguly Fragi” are carved is 25 meters.
The State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan is the first and largest of the 26 museums created after Turkmenistan gained independence. Its official opening took place on November 12, 1998. It is located on the Archabil Highway in the picturesque foothills of the Kopetdag. Opposite the museum, on one of the highest flagpoles in the world, the main flag of Turkmenistan is installed.
The three-story museum complex occupies an area of about 15 thousand square meters. The central building is covered by a 16-sided blue dome. 16 faces mean the number of Turkic states founded by the ancestors of the Turkmen. The dome rests on 5 columns, corresponding to the number of velayats (regions) of Turkmenistan. The complex is built in the traditions of modern national architecture. Finnish granite, valuable wood species, bronze, and facing materials from Turkey were used for its decoration. Openwork metal grilles, decorative cornices, and tinted stained glass windows were used in the decor.
In 2009, two more buildings were added to the main building on both sides, housing the Museum of History and Ethnography and the Museum of the President of Turkmenistan. Both buildings fit harmoniously into the overall composition of the museum complex. All three buildings are united by an open gallery with a colonnade.
The adjacent territory of the museum complex with an area of 105 thousand square meters is decorated with flower beds, an ensemble of three fountains, as well as a colonnade with huge gilded statues of winged horses.
The State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan is equipped with the latest museum technology, autonomous power supply and water supply systems, restoration halls, laboratories, computer systems that control lighting, humidity and air temperature. The total cost of this project was about $38 million.
Today, the exposition of the museum complex is divided into 7 thematic galleries, which, in total, store more than 166 thousand unique exhibits, many of which are of special historical and cultural value.
The Museum of History and Ethnography houses ancient artifacts found during excavations in Nisa, Merv and Gonur, a collection of ancient Turkmen carpets, rare examples of national clothing, jewelry, and ancient weapons. The 9 halls contain statues of Athena, Eros, a griffin made of silver and gilded, horn-shaped vessels-rhytons made of ivory from the Parthian Empire, gold jewelry and medallions-seals from Margiana, and Buddhist artifacts. Here you can also see a fossilized piece of wood from the Paleozoic period, which is 270 million years old, dinosaur footprints, the Kunyaurgench meteorite weighing 820 kg, which fell in 1998, etc.
The complex of the State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan also includes the Museum of the President of Turkmenistan. Its 10 thematic halls display personal belongings of presidents, gifts from heads of state, valuable archival documents and photographs representing the country’s recent history, as well as attributes of the presidential inauguration.
