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Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population. |
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| The province of Mary, the southernmost part of Turkmenistan , is a large and fertile oasis set in the sands of the Kara Kum desert. The oasis is irrigated by two waterways: the Murgab River and the man-made Kara Kun canal cut in the 1950-s. The Murgab River enters the oasis at the south and fans into a delta in the north, before it vanishes in the sands. The length of the Kara Kum canal across the oasis is 180 km . The population of the province stands at one million people. Local products include cotton, corn and fruit. Since ancient times this area has been famous for its superb fabrics: both cottons and silks that are still woven there. It is in this province that Turkmenistan's major gas deposits are located. In 1968 the unique gas field was discovered there called “Shatlyk” (“joy”).
The principal city of the province is MARY. Mary is the third largest city in Turkmenistan located on the western edge of the Mary oases. Lying on the Murgab river it supports a population of 100,000 people. It has an airport, railway and roads.
Mary rose in 1884 as a Russian military-administrative center a short distance from the site of ancient Merv. The new settlement – also initially called Merv until 1937 – developed rapidly due to the construction of the Trans-Caspian railway line across Turkmenistan . With the railway came merchants, hoteliers and even tourists.
Until recently Mary had a bad reputation for its only hotel with poor facilities. Things have changed since then. Now Mary is home for a nice newly opened hotel “Margush” on the bank of the Murgab River .
HISTORY MUSEUM of MARY is located in the city center in an old merchant's house, close to the Murgab River . It boasts of a rich collection of archaeological finds from sites excavated in the Mary oasis, including those from the Bronze Age Gonur Depeh and the cities of Merv. The museum also has displays of the world-famous Turkmen carpets, magnificent jewelry of gilt-silver inlaid with semi-precious stones of turquoise and cornelian, traditional costumes worn by the various Turkmen tribes, domestic utensils and a nomad's yurt. The Russian annexation of the Mary oasis has brought about an influx of new people from Russia , Caucasus and Persia . The museum familiarizes its visitors with the way of life of the different national minorities that once inhabited the oasis: the Russians, Armenians, ethnic Germans, Baluchi people, etc.
Meana Baba: Following an old caravan route the highway from Mary to Ashgabat is studded with dilapidated medieval castles, mausolea and mosques. If you reach a smaller town of Dushak and turn off the road towards the Kopetdag range ( 45 km ) you will find a lonely standing mausoleum of Meane-Baba (11th century). Although in a bad state of preservation this mausoleum is the masterpiece of the polychrome-pictorial style typical for the medieval architecture. Of particular interest is its beautiful portal laid in blue, dark-blue, white and yellow tiles. Two round pillars decorated in spirally laid multi-colored tiles support the portal arch. Topped by a high double cupola the mausoleum consists of square chamber with the side of 10,3 m . The inside from the floor to cupola top is adorned with multi-colored murals against the white background.
Abiverd: Just at the side of the highway (some 100 km east of Ashgabat) lie the remains of a vanished medieval city of Abiverd . As far back as the 5 th -6 th centuries Abiverd was well known for its agriculture and handicrafts. The city consisted of a walled fortress with a citadel within it and blocks of artisans sprawled on both sides of the fortress. In excavation of Abiverd archaeologists found locally minted coins, shards of finely-done pottery, superb articles of jewelry and the remains of a well-sophisticated system of water supply: wells, reservoirs, ice-houses, etc. Although no longer in existence the city's ground is still littered with fragments of beautiful pottery. |
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