Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bayramali Khan Kala, built adjacent to Abdullah Khan Kala, was the
last castle built in the city. It was built by a Turkish ruler who had recog-
nized Persian management in the 18th century. Merv and its life-giving
Sultanbend, especially in the 18th century, was destroyed by the khans of
Bukhara. Revived after the opening of the Niyazov (Karakum) canal by
Russia in 1950s, Merv has continued to grow in the southern direction,
and Bayramali today has become one of the important counties of Turk-
menistan.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN MERV
In 1999, UNESCO nominated Merv as a World Heritage Center, with sta-
tus of Historical City and Cultural Park. Merv is one of the rare archeo-
logical parks where the civilizations built during the five thousand year
period are not in the form of layers on top of each other. In other words,
a palace compound, which is over four thousand years old is not located
under a Seljuk palace which was built 3000 years later, but a few kilome-
ters away; just this way, one fire temple, the Buddhist stupa artifacts, and
Prophet Muhammad's companions' (called
askhab)
tombs are separated
by similar distances. To visit this park is like taking on a walk in a kind of
time tunnel. Unfortunately, the main building material of most monuments
in Merv is mudbrick, which makes them open to weather, water, human,
plants, animals and other threats. That is why ancient Merv was included
in the list of world heritage sites in danger by UNESCO. “The Ancient
Merv Project” is run seriously, led by the University College of London
Institute of Archeology and collaborating with other institutions like the
World Monuments Foundation for its conservation. An interpretation cen-
ter is aimed at educating local people on conservation and informing all
tourists in detail about Merv (University College of London, n.d.).
As far as the museums of Merv are concerned, the most important one
is the Mary Region Museum, which happens to be the best Museum of
Turkmenistan outside of Ashkabat. Here, besides the archeological arti-
facts of Old Merv and Bronze Age settlements, entnographic objects and
masterpieces of Turkmen people are displayed. Secondly, in Merv, which
was chosen as “Historic City and Cultural Park” by UNESCO, to the north
of the oasis there is the Margush Archeological Museum, which exhibits
the works belonging to Bronze Age settlements. In Bayramali, on the other
Search WWH ::
Custom Search