Mary Velayat: Places to Visit

Ancient Merv

One of the largest cities of the medieval world, Merv's vast UNESCO-listed ruins stretch across the Karakum sands where a Silk Road empire once peaked.

Gonur Depe

A Bronze Age city in the Karakum Desert, older than most classical civilizations, where a forgotten urban culture flourished beside a long-vanished river.

Kyz-Kala

Twin early medieval castles at Ancient Merv with dramatically corrugated mud-brick walls - among the most visually distinctive ruins surviving from the Silk Road era.

Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum

The crowning architectural achievement of the Seljuk Empire, a 12th-century mausoleum in ancient Merv whose turquoise-tiled dome was once visible for days of travel.