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57-486: Bagyr is a former village that has been annexed by the city of Ashgabat , the capital of Turkmenistan . It is presently a neighborhood of the capital city. Bagyr features archeological sites. A fortress constructed in the 19th century, the walls are all that remains. An octagonal domed structure (also called Shikh Alou Mausoleum), this is believed to house the tomb of Nasipuri Sufi ascetic Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq (d. 1015). Ashgabat Ashgabat ( Turkmen : Aşgabat )

114-513: A Parthian fortress constructed to protect the capital city, Nisa , based on discoveries of pottery and other artifacts in the 1970s and as recently as 2020. Other artifacts indicating settlement during the Parthian period were reportedly discovered during laying of telephone cables on the site of the Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar in downtown Ashgabat. According to Muradov, the first mention of

171-764: A document kept in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs archives listing 43 Ahal fortresses, "Ishkhabad" among them. It was described as a "typical Turkmen aul ". It was formally part of Persia but de facto autonomous under Turkoman tribal control until Russian forces defeated the Teke army at the Battle of Geok Tepe in January 1881. Persia ceded Askhabad to the Russian Empire in September 1881 under

228-525: A new master plan. Up until then the city had largely expanded to the east, but now the plan called for development to the south and west. This plan was used for about 20 years, and led to construction of the city's first four-story apartment buildings in the Howdan ( Russian : Гаудан ) microdistricts, formerly the site of the Ashgabat-South aerodrome, as well as annexation of three collective farms in

285-457: A presidentially appointed mayor ( Turkmen : häkim ): This is a reduction from the previous number of boroughs. Arçabil and Çandybil boroughs were merged on February 4, 2015, and the new etrap , named Arçabil, was in turn renamed Büzmeýin in January 2018. At that time the Abadan borough of Ashgabat, created in 2013 by annexing the town of Abadan and surrounding villages to Abadan's south,

342-606: A straightening and widening of Atamyrat Nyýazow şaýoly plus construction of 13 high-rise apartment buildings, two secondary schools, two kindergartens, a new headquarters building for the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Telekeçi shopping center, and the Development Bank. On that same date, the new Cabinet of Ministers building was also opened. In preparation for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games ,

399-474: A transliteration of the Russian form. It has also been variously spelled Ashkhabat and Ashgabad. From 1919 until 1927, the city was renamed Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary, Pavel Poltoratskiy . Although the name literally means "city of love" or "city of devotion" in modern Persian, the name might be modified through folk etymology . Turkmen historian Ovez Gundogdiyev believes that the name goes back to

456-585: Is 38.3 °C (100.9 °F). Nighttimes in the summer are warm, with an average minimum temperature in July of 23.8 °C (75 °F). The average January high temperature is 8.6 °C (47.5 °F), and the average low temperature is −0.4 °C (31.3 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Ashgabat is 47.2 °C (117 °F), recorded in June 2015. A low temperature of −24.1 °C (−11 °F)

513-549: Is primarily sediment that accumulated on the bottom of the Paratethys Ocean . The Kopet Dag mountains emerged toward the end of the Cretaceous Period . Prior to 1881 any buildings other than yurts were made solely from adobe and were limited to one story in height due to the seismic risk. As of 1900 only one building in the city was two stories tall, the municipal museum. City planning began following

570-758: Is the capital and largest city of Turkmenistan . It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia , approximately 50 km (30 mi) away from the Iran-Turkmenistan border . The city has a population of 1,030,063 (2022 census). The city was founded in 1881 on the basis of an Ahal Teke tribal village, and made the capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 when it

627-697: The Mollanepes Academic Drama Theater , the former Ashkhabad Hotel (now renamed Paytagt), the Academy of Sciences complex, and the downtown library building. On then-Karl Marx Square stood a monument to the Soviet "fighters for victory of Soviet power in Turkmenistan". The Turkmen State Project Institute undertook a feasibility study in the mid-1960s to forecast Ashgabat's development to the year 2000, and on that basis to develop

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684-659: The Parthian era, 3rd century BC, deriving from the name of the founder of the Parthian Empire , Arsaces I of Parthia , in Persian Ashk-Abad (the city of Ashk / Arsaces ). Ashgabat is in near proximity, approximately 50 km (30 mi), to the Iranian border. It occupies a highly seismically active oasis plain bounded on the south by the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains ( Turkmen : Köpetdag ) and on

741-695: The Tashkent Soviet resumed control of the city. In 1919, the city was renamed Poltoratsk ( Russian : Полторацк ), after Pavel Poltoratskiy , the Chairman of the Soviet of National Economy of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . When the Turkmen SSR was established in 1924, Poltoratsk became its capital. The original name but in the form of "A sh khabad" rather than "A s khabad"

798-475: The 1920s, following imposition of Soviet power, which brought with it forced collectivization . In 1926 Ashkhabad's population of 51,593 included 52.4% Russians, 13.53% Armenian, 4.3% Persians, and 29.8% "other". By 1939, Ashkhabad counted 126,500 residents, including 11.7% Armenian. The 1959 census recorded a population of 169,900, which grew to 338,000 by 1983, including 105 nationalities, of which ethnic Armenians constituted 40 percent. According to estimates of

855-486: The 1st-2nd century BC and leveled by an earthquake in the 1st century BC. Konjikala was rebuilt because of its advantageous location on the Silk Road and it flourished until its destruction by Mongols in the 13th century. After that it survived as a small village until Russians took over in the 19th century. The near suburb of Köşi, until 2013 a separate village but in that year annexed by Ashgabat, may have been site of

912-589: The 2012 Turkmen census the Turkmens form 78.5% of the city's population. Russians form 10% of the population, followed by Turks (1.1%), Uzbeks (1.1%), and Azeris (1%). Vasily Yan Born in Kiev to a family of teachers, his father was from an Orthodox Christian priests family, who graduated from seminary and taught Latin and Greek at the University Gymnasium. In 1897, Yan graduated from

969-492: The Bikrova canyon (today Bekrewe). The city architect's office was created in 1936 but was unable to implement the new master plan "as it implied significant demolition of the existing buildings". A description of Ashgabat published in 1948 just before the earthquake noted, "In Ashgabat there are nearly no tall buildings, thus every two-story building is visible from above...", i.e., from the foothills. The tallest structures were

1026-606: The Choganly residential neighborhood, which is planned to include over 200 buildings on 744 hectares, and for the first time in the city's history to feature some buildings as tall as 35 stories. These will include 180 12- to 35-story residential buildings containing 17,836 apartments intended to house over 107,000 occupants. Ashgabat milestones: See also Map of the Boroughs of Ashgabat As of January 5, 2018, Ashgabat includes four boroughs ( uly etraplar ), each with

1083-608: The Gül zemin shopping center, and a monument to the Alabay sheepdog . In addition, the Gurtly and Choganly housing complexes, both greenfield projects, were constructed. In May 2021 the government announced plans for the "17th Line", consisting of a resort complex encircling Golden Lake ( Turkmen : Altyn köl ), the former Gurtly Reservoir, to include 268 vacation cottages plus buildings for public services and amenities. On 23 August 2022

1140-642: The Leningrad kolkhoz neighborhood as the "14th Line", and the Gazha and Vosmushka neighborhoods as the "15th Line". Subsequent to conclusion of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the "16th Line" project, a redevelopment of the Köşi neighborhood and extension of Magtymguly Avenue to the west, was begun in 2018. The "16th Line" was dedicated on November 10, 2020; it includes 16 high-rise apartment buildings,

1197-565: The Russian conquest, with "very simple planning schemes". The basic layout of downtown streets "has been preserved to this day and defined the unique character of the city structure combining linear and radial types of layout of blocks". The Russian writer Vasily Yan , who lived in Askhabad from 1901 to 1904, described the city as "a little tidy town consisting of numerous clay houses, surrounded by fruit gardens with straight streets, planted with slim cottonwood, chestnut, and white acacia planned by

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1254-653: The Trans-Caspian Railway stimulated an influx of migrants seeking employment, particularly from the Caucasus, Volga Valley, and Iran, and Askhabad's subsequent population growth was as follows: 1897: 19,426 1908: 39,867 1911: 45,384 Ethnic Russians dominated the population after 1881, with about 20 percent admixture of Caucasus-origin migrants (mainly Armenian). One source indicates that pre-revolutionary Askhabad had no Turkmen residents at all, and that they lived in nearby auls . This began to change in

1311-476: The aerodrome at Howdan redeveloped, and creation of the Parahat ( Russian : Mir ) neighborhoods to the south and industrial parks to the east. In 2013, Ashgabat annexed a portion of the then-Ruhabat district of Ahal Province as well as the city of Abadan (previously named Büzmeýin, and renamed that as a neighborhood) plus all land and villages in between. The southern boundary of Ashgabat was extended southward to

1368-647: The capital of an independent Turkmenistan, Ashgabat retains a multiethnic population, with ethnic Turkmen as the majority. In 2021, it celebrated 140 years of its written history. Ashgabat is called Aşgabat in Turkmen , ( Russian : Ашхабад , romanized :  Ashkhabad ) in Russian from 1925 to 1991, and عشق‌آباد ( ' Ešqābād ) in Persian . Before 1991, the name was usually spelled Ashkhabad in English,

1425-613: The city architect was Abdulla Ahmedov, who introduced Soviet modernism to Ashgabat. Ahmedov's greatest architectural accomplishment during this period is considered the Ashgabat Hotel (today renamed Paytagt Hotel), built between 1964 and 1970, "a harmonious synthesis of architecture and monumental art". In 1948 Ashgabat was described before the earthquake as lying "on a sloping plain of the Kopet-Dag foothills, stretching seven kilometers from west to east and five kilometers from

1482-508: The city spent $ 5 billion on residential construction. December 4, 2014, the president issued a decree calling for construction of 60 9-story apartment buildings in the Parahat-7 microdistrict, a greenfield project in the southeast quadrant of the city. On November 10, 2015, the "13th Line" was dedicated, a complete reconstruction of buildings along Oguzhan köçesi west of Garaşsyzlyk şaýoly. Projects included demolition and redevelopment of

1539-486: The city was included in the Guinness Book of Records as possessing the world's highest concentration of white marble buildings. Ashgabat's "11th Line" project was dedicated on June 29, 2012, including 17 high-rise apartment buildings along 10 ýyl Abadançylyk şaýoly, two secondary schools, two kindergartens, a fire station, and a health clinic. The "12th Line" project was completed October 1, 2014, consisting of

1596-500: The clock tower of the textile mill, the "round smokestack of the glass factory", two "exceptionally thin minarets" of the "former mosque", and "two splendid towers over the long building of the main city hotel". During the 1948 earthquake, since the bulk of Ashgabat at that time was built of either adobe or fired brick , all but a very few buildings collapsed or were damaged beyond repair (the reinforced concrete grain elevator, Church of St. Alexander Nevsky , and Kärz Bank were among

1653-600: The establishment of Soviet power in Achinsk he worked as a teacher, correspondent and director of schools in Uryanhae ( Tuva ). He then became the editor of the leading newspaper The Power of labour in Minusinsk. That was when he first adopted the pseudonym Yan. In 1923, he moved to Moscow. Falsification of the novel "Ermak's Campaign" was carried out in 2011 by " Leningrad publishing house " (ЛЕНИЗДАТ). In fact this novel

1710-615: The existing network of city streets as it was economically unjustified to redesign them". The city was described as "...a Communist-era backwater, rebuilt into a typically drab provincial Soviet city..." The plan was updated in 1959. Among the buildings erected in the 1950s and 1960s were the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Turkmenistan Communist Party, the Council of Ministers Building,

1767-521: The first Bahá'í House of Worship was built in Askhabad. It was badly damaged in the 1948 earthquake and finally demolished in 1963. The community of the Bahá'í Faith in Turkmenistan was largely based in Askhabad. By 1915 Askhabad featured branches of the Russian State Bank, Persian Accounting Loan Bank, Russian-Asian Bank, Société Générale , and Askhabat Mutual Credit Union. Soviet rule

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1824-675: The first Petersburg Gymnasium. As an organizer of the scouts he met with Colonel Robert Baden-Powell , who came to Russia in 1910. In the autumn of 1910 Vasily Yan introduced the magazine Pupil . In 1913, he worked as a correspondent in Turkey for SPA. In 1914, with the beginning of the First World War, he became SPA's military correspondent in Romania . In 1918–1919 he worked in the press service of Aleksandr Kolchak in Siberia. After

1881-409: The following microdistricts: In 1871 a Russian visitor named Strebnitskiy counted over four thousand "nomad tents" (yurts), implying a population of 16 to 20 thousand Ahal Teke Turkmen, many of whom were killed or dispersed in the 1881 Battle of Geok Tepe . The population was 2,500 in 1881, virtually all Russian. By 1886 Askhabad's population was about 10,000, mainly ethnic Russians. Construction of

1938-591: The foothills of the Kopet Dag mountains. Overall, Ashgabat's land area rose by 37,654 hectares. The following municipalities were abolished due to their incorporation into the city of Ashgabat: city of Abadan, towns of Jülge and Ruhabat, villages of Gökje, Gypjak, Birleşik, Magaryf, Herrikgala, Ýalkym, Gurtly, Hellewler, Ylmy-Tejribe bazasy, Ýasmansalyk, Köne Gurtly, Gulantäzekli, Serdar ýoly, Gaňtar, Gyzyljagala, Inerçýage, Tarhan, Topurly, and Ussagulla. A further expansion occurred January 5, 2018, when additional land to

1995-401: The former Gurtly Water Reservoir, recently renamed "Golden Lake" (Altyn köl). Ashgabat's boroughs are subdivided into microdistricts ( Russian : микрорайоны, singular микрорайон , Turkmen : etrapçalar, singular etrapça ). These are administrative units that possess no independent governance structures. They are used for management of utilities and publicly owned housing. Ashgabat includes

2052-423: The government announced plans to demolish one- and two-story houses in several microdistricts of central Ashgabat and to replace them with modern apartment buildings. A map of the areas intended for urban renewal was broadcast on national television that day, but no indication of a timeline was given. The largest current residential project is construction of "Ashgabat-City" ( Turkmen : Aşgabat-siti ) north of

2109-505: The hand of military engineers". Another description noted, In 1930, asphalt was used for the first time to pave Ashgabat's streets. The water supply was increased by piping water from springs in neighboring Gämi and Bagyr. The first master plan for Ashgabat, developed between 1935 and 1937 at the Moscow Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Imagery, and Cartography, envisioned expansion to the west, including irrigation and greening of

2166-615: The historical and philological faculty of St. Petersburg University . Impressions of a two-year tour of Russia form the backbone of his book Notes of a Pedestrian (1901). In 1901–1904 he served as inspector of wells in Turkestan , where he studied Oriental languages and the lives of local people. During the Russian-Japanese war , he was a military correspondent for the St. Petersburg News Agency (SPA) . In 1906–1913, he taught Latin at

2223-521: The main square, named in honor of General Mikhail Skobelev , commander of Russian forces during the 1880–1881 Trans-Caspian military campaign. These included as well the western boundary avenue, named in honor of General Nikolai Grodekov, and the city's central avenue, renamed in the 1890s to honor General and Trans-Caspian Governor-General Aleksey Kuropatkin , both of whom had served in the Trans-Caspian campaign under Skobolev's command. In 1908,

2280-399: The near suburbs and their conversion into residential neighborhoods, one of which, Leningrad kolkhoz, to this day is referred to informally by its former name. The plan was reworked in 1974, and this resulted in relocation of several industrial plants away from the city center, and thus creation of the industrial zones to the northwest, south, southeast, and northeast. Between 1961 and 1987

2337-482: The north by the Karakum Desert . It is surrounded by, but not part of, Ahal Province ( Turkmen : Ahal welaýaty ). The highest point in the city is the 401 metres (1,316 ft) high sandhill upon which the Yyldyz Hotel was built, but most of the city lies between 200 and 255 metres (656 and 837 ft) of elevation. The Karakum Canal runs through the city. Like the rest of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat's soil

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2394-737: The north was annexed, incorporating the Gurtly Reservoir and two greenfield residential construction projects, known today as Täze Zaman. This statute also established the current four boroughs of Ashgabat. The Kopet Dag mountain range is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south, and Ashgabat's northern boundary touches the Kara-Kum desert. Because of this Ashgabat has a cold desert climate ( Köppen climate classification : BWk , bordering on BWh ) with mediterranean influences. It features very hot, dry summers and cool, short, somewhat moist, winters. The average high temperature in July

2451-423: The railroad right-of-way to the south, in the direction of the mountains". Through the mid-1970s, Ashgabat was a compact city, as shown by the 1974 Soviet military's General Staff map J-40-081. The village of Köşi, collective farm "Leningrad", airport, and suburbs to the north were outside the city limits. Beginning in the 1970s, Ashgabat's boundaries shifted outward, with the aforementioned municipalities annexed,

2508-624: The residential area, surrounded by walls and a moat." Sixty-seven Turkmen families were compensated for the land confiscated from them for this construction. Russia developed the area due to its proximity to the border of British-influenced Persia. In 1882 a wagon road was built through the mountains to Quchan , Iran , which led to increased trade as well as settlement of Persian and Armenian merchants in Askhabad. The Trans-Caspian railway reached Askhabad in 1885. The population grew from 2,500 in 1881 to 10,000 in 1886 and 19,428 (of whom one third were Persian) by 1897. The Transcaspian Public Library

2565-622: The settlement in modern times is found in Khiva chronicles of 1811. British Lieutenant Colonel H.C. Stuart reported in 1881 that the Ahal branch of the Teke tribe of the Turkmen ethnic group arrived in the area around 1830 and established several semi-nomadic villages ( auls ) between what are now the city of Gyzylarbat and village of Gäwers , inclusive. One of these villages was named Askhabad. The first Russian reference to Ashgabat dates to 1850, in

2622-754: The structures that survived). According to Turkmenistan's official news agency, A new general plan was hastily developed by July 1949. The city was divided into four zones: central, northern, eastern, and southwestern. Reconstruction of the city began in that year. Thus from the early 1950s through 1991 Ashgabat's skyline was dominated by the Brutalist Style favored by post-Stalin Soviet architects. The city's central avenue, Magtymguly (former Kuropatkin, Freedom, and Stalin Avenue), featured "monotonous and primarily two-story construction of administrative and residential buildings". This reconstruction "preserved

2679-601: The terms of the Akhal Treaty . The city was officially founded January 18, 1881, as a fortified garrison and was named after the Turkmen village on that site. Russian military engineers platted the garrison settlement "on the western edge of the aul (village) of Askhabad on the Gaudan (Howdan) road leading to Persia. The fortress stood on a hill 12 meters high, on which was constructed a citadel-redoubt, and below [it],

2736-426: The years since, many of them have been replaced with names honoring Turkmen scholars, poets, military heroes, and figures from art and culture, as well as celebrating the nation's independence. For example, Karl Marx Square became Garaşsyzlyk (Independence) Square, Ostrovskiy Street became Abba Annaýew (in honor of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov 's great-uncle), and Freedom Avenue became Magtymguly . In 2013,

2793-399: Was abolished and its territory was merged into the newly renamed Büzmeýin borough. The former Ruhabat borough was abolished at the same time and its territory absorbed by Bagtyýarlyk borough. On 15 June 2020, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov announced intention to create a fifth borough of Ashgabat, to be called Altyn etraby, centered on the new resort zone created on the shores of

2850-483: Was erected. During World War II Ashgabat became a refuge for both institutions, including Moscow State University and the Kiev film studio, and individuals. Roughly 8,000 refugees were quartered in private homes during the war. Among the outsiders who escaped to Ashgabat during the war were Andrei Sakharov and author Yury Olesha . In 1944 Ukrainian motion picture director Mark Donskoy filmed Rainbow ( Ukrainian : Веселка , Russian : Радуга ) in Ashgabat, which

2907-482: Was established in 1885, boys and girls high schools were founded in 1886, and the Kuropatkin School of Horticulture and Viticulture appeared in 1890. The first telephone station was installed in 1900. The city was regarded as a pleasant municipality with European-style buildings, shops, and hotels. Several streets were named after Russian military figures, reflecting its status as a garrison town, including

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2964-791: Was established in Ashgabat in December 1917. However, in July 1918, a coalition of Mensheviks , Social Revolutionaries , and Tsarist former officers of the Imperial Russian Army revolted against the Bolshevik rule emanating from Tashkent and established the Ashkhabad Executive Committee . After receiving some support (but even more promises) from General Malleson , the British withdrew in April 1919 and

3021-456: Was known as Poltoratsk. Much of the city was destroyed by the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake , but has since been extensively rebuilt under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov 's "White City" urban renewal project, resulting in monumental projects sheathed in costly white marble. The Soviet-era Karakum Canal runs through the city, carrying waters from the Amu Darya from east to west. Today, as

3078-426: Was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film. From this period onward, the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation, although severely disrupted by a major earthquake on October 6, 1948. An estimated 7.3 on the Surface magnitude scale , the earthquake killed 110–176,000 (⅔ of the population of the city), although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 40,000. The earthquake

3135-517: Was recorded as one of the most deadliest natural disasters in Soviet history. In July 2003, street names in Ashgabat were replaced by serial numbers except for nine major highways, some named after Saparmurat Niyazov , his father, and his mother. The Presidential Palace Square was designated 2000 to symbolize the beginning of the 21st century. The rest of the streets were assigned larger or smaller four-digit numerical names. Following Niyazov's death in 2006, Soviet-era street names were restored, though in

3192-415: Was recorded in January 1969. Snow is infrequent in the area. Annual precipitation is only 201 millimetres (7.91 in); March and April are the wettest months, and June to September are the driest months. In May 2022, 338 millimetres (13.31 in), 1,352% of the monthly normal, was reported. Ashgabat grew on the ruins of the Silk Road city of Konjikala , first mentioned as a wine-producing village in

3249-474: Was restored in 1927. In keeping with standard Soviet practice, Imperial Russian street names were changed to honor prominent Communists, Russians, or socialist ideals. For example, Skobolev Square became Karl Marx Square, Grodekov Street became Ostrovskiy Street, and Kuropatkin Avenue became Freedom Avenue (and from 1953 to 1961, following Joseph Stalin 's death, Stalin Avenue). In 1927 a statue of Vladimir Lenin designed by A.A. Karelin and Ye.R. Tripolskaya

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