Merv Historical and Cultural Park

Merv Historical and Cultural Park

Ancient Merv was the oldest and best-preserved oasis city along the Silk Road in Central Asia. Merv (also known as Mary, and historically referred to as Munchak, Maru, Maliva, and Maran) is an oasis city in Mary Province, Turkmenistan, Central Asia. The ancient city of Merv lies between Samarkand and Baghdad (now near the city of Mary in Turkmenistan), serving as a major hub on the ancient Silk Road. This vast oasis spans four thousand years of human history and features numerous monumental structures. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

Merv Historical and Cultural Park was established in the 12th century, and most of the structures within the park were built during the era of the Turkmen Empire. Today, most of the buildings in the national park have either suffered from human destruction or been ruined by repeated earthquakes. Merv Historical and Cultural Park is a national park that is beyond the imagination of most visitors—there is no entrance, no gate, and therefore no ticket required; there are also no signs, no rangers, no park maps, or brochures. Even more astonishingly, there are no restrooms or fast-food restaurants nearby—only remnants of ruins scattered across the desert.