Konye-Urgench

Understand

The town was called Gurganch from the 10th century CE onward and is now called Konye Urgench (Old Urgench), as the inhabitants moved to modern Urgench in Uzbekistan in the 17th century. 300px|thumbnail|The Tekesh Mausoleum (as of 2024 the dome is partially covered in protective scaffolding). While the exact date of the city's founding is unknown, historical records indicated that it existed in some scope before 712, which is when Arab forces conquered it. The city emerged at a strategic point along the central Eurasian trade routes: here, the east-west Xi'an-Constantinople route (the main "Silk Road") intersected with the north-south Volga-Persia route (along which travelers like Ibn Fadlan visited the Russians and Volga Bulgars). While Konye Urgench was at its height, the Amu Darya river flowed into the Caspian Sea; one of the reasons the city was eventually abandoned was due to the river shifting to the Aral Sea in the 16th century.

Around the year 1000 CE the Emir Mamun unified the region of Khwarezmia, and Konye Urgench was made its capital. Khwarezmia was a powerful and strategically important region during the Middle Ages, and many important scholars from the Islamic Golden Age called Konye Urgench their home. Indeed, al-Khwarizmi, the founder/inventor of algebra, lived and taught in Konye Urgench (although it's unknown still if he made the discovery at the university in Konye Urgench or while he was at Baghdad). Konye Urgench became one of the centers of the Islamic w…

Get around

There is no public transport in Konye Urgench. The sights of Konye Urgench are spread over the town. A taxi to the most distant monuments (Turabeg Khanym Mausoleum, Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum, Kyrk Molla and Il-Arslan Mausoleum) and back will cost about US$2 including waiting time.

See

thumb|upright=1.4|Nedjameddin Kubra Mausoleum.

Nedjameddin Kubra Mausoleum was built in the 14th century. It is considered as the holiest place in Konye Urgench. Nedjameddin Kubra lived in the 12th/13th centuries. He was born in Khiva and became a famous religious teacher known as 'designer of saints'. He left several treatises on mystic experiences, founded an important Sufic order and was killed by the Mongols. Konye Urgench Museum in the modern Dash mosque (US$1, W-M 08:00-13:90, 14:00-16:00). Some rooms contain ethnographic exhibits including a pottery workshop and carpet looms.

The most interesting monuments are on both sides the Ashgabat road about 1 km south of the town. Admission is US$1, camera US$0.70, open from 08:00 to 18:00.

Turabeg Khanym Mausoleum is one of Central Asia's most beautiful buildings. It was built in the 14th century by Kutlug Timur for his wife Turabeg Khanum. Its portal with a height of 21 m and a breadth of 14 m is richly decorated with majolicas. The central building measuring about 100 m² is also ornamented with colourful tiles. The interior of the dome (height: 20 m) shows 365 stars symbolizing the days of the year, 12 open and 12 closed arches symbolize the hours of day and night, 12 bigger arches symbolize the 12 months and 4 big windows the four seasons. Kutlug Timur Minaret was begun in the 11th century and finished in the 14th century unter Kutlug Timur. It was the minaret of the main mosque in Konye Urgench. With a height of 60 m, it…

Do

Wander around the ruins and explore the history of one of the world's historic cultural capitals.thumb|upright=1.4|Seid Ahmed Mausoleum.

Buy

Aside from some small souvenir stands near the Turabeg Khanym Mausoleum and the Nedjameddin Kubra Mausoleum, there are no stores near the sites. Stores within the surrounding town are of little interest to the traveler, as they are the types of stores one would find in any human settlement (grocery stores, appliance stores, etc.).

Sleep

There is no comfortable hotel in Konye Urgench. It is better to stay overnight at Dashoguz.

Many tourists continue to the Darwaza gas crater and spend the night in a yurt camp in the desert. It's a 5 hour drive over an incredibly torn-up and pothole-y road between Konye Urgench and Darwaza.

Respect

The city is both figuratively and literally a graveyard. After the two great destructions, the Turkmen who moved into the area buried their dead within the site (which is one reason it was preserved). Many of these graves have been removed and moved elsewhere, but many remain. Treat the area with some reverence; stay on the paved paths.

As many of the remaining buildings were themselves built as tombs or mausolea, there are many Turkmen and Uzbek pilgrims who come to the site to pray. If you enter a tomb, be quiet or keep noises to a minimum, especially if someone is there praying.thumb|upright=1.3|Il Arslan Mausoleum detail.