Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque

It takes a certain kind of ambition to build a mosque large enough to hold ten thousand worshippers in a village. Gypjak is a small settlement a short drive west of Ashgabat, and yet it is home to the Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque - which rises from the surrounding flatlands in a composition of white marble, gilded domes, and four minarets that can be seen from considerable distance. The scale is not subtle.

Completed in 2004, the mosque was commissioned during the presidency of Saparmurat Niyazov, who held the title Turkmenbashi - meaning Head of all Turkmen. The mosque takes its name from that title, and the complex also contains his mausoleum and the graves of members of his family, making it simultaneously a place of worship and a site of national memory. Architecturally, its defining distinction is the main dome: this is the largest single-dome mosque in the world, a superlative that becomes tangible when you stand beneath the central dome's interior and feel the scale of the span above.

The exterior is clad entirely in white marble, its four minarets rising symmetrically around the central dome. Inside, the prayer hall is vast and cool, decorated with Quranic inscriptions and intricate geometric tilework. The carpeted floor - inevitably, given Turkmenistan's weaving heritage - is a spectacular piece of craftwork in itself. Chandeliers descend from the dome interior, and the acoustics transform even quiet footsteps into something resonant.

What genuinely surprises most visitors is the fusion of orthodox Islamic architectural forms with distinctly Turkmen national identity. The surrounding grounds are immaculately maintained, and the approach across the wide forecourt - with the full facade in view - is one of the more dramatic arrivals in Ashgabat's architectural landscape.