Ashgabat

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.[17] As of 1900 only one building in the city was two stories tall, the municipal museum.[18] City planning began following 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 the hand of military engineers."[19] Another description noted,

The fortress was the center of the bureaucratic part of the city. Here stood especially sturdy thick-walled houses, with strong window grates and corner buttresses. Earthquakes were less frightening in such houses, and behind the thick walls even in the hottest months some measure of indoor coolness was retained. Each house had a garden around it, on maintenance of which residents spared neither expenditures nor water...Nearer the rail station lived the railroad workers and craftsmen. Here the houses were shorter and more densely spaced, gardens smaller, and dust on the streets greater...

Gradually a third center of Ashkhabad started to emerge, of the merchants. Roughly equidistant from the rail station and the fortress was laid out a sad marketplace, becoming not only a center of stores and stalls, but a center of gravity for merchants' residence.[20]

In 1930, asphalt was used for the first time to pave Ashgabat's streets.[21] The water supply was increased by piping water from springs in neighboring Gämi and Bagyr.[21]

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 the Bikrova canyon (today Bekrewe).[15] 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."[22] 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 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."[20]

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 the structures that survived).[23][24] According to Turkmenistan's official news agency,

Nearly all one-story residential buildings in the city made of mud brick were destroyed, 95 percent of all one-story buildings made of fired brick, and the remaining structures were damaged beyond repair. The number of inhabitable buildings was in single digits, and at that, only after capital renovation.[22]

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.[15][22] Thus from the early 1950s through 1991 Ashgabat's skyline was dominated by the Brutalist Style favored by post-Stalin Soviet architects.[25] The city's central avenue, Magtymguly (former Kuropatkin, Freedom, and Stalin Prospect), featured "monotonous and primarily two-story construction of administrative and residential buildings." This reconstruction "preserved the existing network of city streets as it was economically unjustified to redesign them."[22] The city was described as "...a Communist-era backwater, rebuilt into a typically drab provincial Soviet city..."[26] The plan was updated in 1959.[27]

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, 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".[15]

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 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 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.[22][28] 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.[15]

Between 1961 and 1987 the city architect was Abdulla Ahmedov, who introduced Soviet modernism to Ashgabat.[29] 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."[29]

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 the railroad right-of-way to the south, in the direction of the mountains."[20] Through the mid-1970s, Ashgabat was a compact city, as shown by the 1974 Soviet military's General Staff map J-40-081.[30] 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, 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 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.[31][32][33] A further expansion occurred January 5, 2018, when additional land to 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.[34][35]

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 from BWh) with very hot, dry summers and cool, short winters. The average high temperature in July 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.[36] A low temperature of −24.1 °C (−11 °F) was recorded in January 1969.[36] 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.[37]

The city was officially founded January 18, 1881, as a fortified garrison and was named after the Turkmen village on that site.[20][45][15][46] 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], the residential area, surrounded by walls and a moat."[15] Sixty-seven Turkmen families were compensated for the land confiscated from them for this construction.[46]

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 Armeno-Turkmen merchants in Askhabad.[46] 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.[46][47] The Transcaspian Public Library 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.[46]

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 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.[48]

In 1908, the first Bahá'í House of Worship was built in Askhabad. It was badly damaged in the 1948 earthquake and finally demolished in 1963.[49][50] 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.[19]

Soviet rule 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 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.[45][51] When the Turkmen SSR was established in 1924, Poltoratsk became its capital. The original name but in the form of "Ashkhabad" rather than "Askhabad" was restored in 1927.[45] 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 Prospect became Freedom Prospect (and from 1953 to 1961, following Joseph Stalin's death, Stalin Prospect).[52][53] In 1927 a statue of Vladimir Lenin designed by A.A. Karelin and Ye.R. Tripolskaya was erected.[15]

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.[21] 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 was nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film.[21]

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 Richter scale, the earthquake killed 110–176,000[54][55][56][57] (⅔ of the population of the city), although the official number announced by Soviet news was only 40,000.[58]

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 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 Prospect became Magtymguly.[52][53][59][60]

In 2013, the city was included in the Guinness Book of Records as possessing the world's highest concentration of white marble buildings.[61]

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.[62] The "12th Line" project was completed October 1, 2014, consisting of 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.[63]

In preparation for the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, 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.[64] On November 10, 2015, the "13th Line" was dedicated, a complete reconstruction of buildings along Oguzhan köçesi west of Garaşsyzlyk şaýoly.[65] Projects included demolition and redevelopment of the Leningrad kolkhoz neighborhood as the "14th Line", and the Gazha and Vosmushka neighborhoods as the "15th Line".[52][66][67][68][69]

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 Prospect to the west, was begun in 2018.[70][71] The "16th Line" was dedicated on November 10, 2020; it includes 16 high-rise apartment buildings, the Gül zemin shopping center, and a monument to the Alabay sheepdog.[72] In addition, the Gurtly and Choganly housing complexes, both greenfield projects, were constructed.[73][74][75] 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.[76]

The largest current residential project is construction of "Ashgabat-City" (Turkmen: Aşgabat-siti) north of 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.[77][78][79][80][81] These will include 180 12- to 35-story residential buildings containing 17,836 apartments intended to house over 107,000 occupants.[82][83][84]

Ashgabat milestones:[85]

• 1882–1918 – administrative center of Russia's Transcaspian Region
• 1918–1925 – administrative center of the Turkmen Oblast in the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
• since February 1925 – capital of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
• since October 1991 – capital of independent Turkmenistan

The four boroughs of the city

See also Map of the Boroughs of Ashgabat

As of January 5, 2018, Ashgabat includes four boroughs (uly etraplar), each with a presidentially appointed mayor (Turkmen: häkim):[1][86][87][88][89][90][91]

1. Bagtyýarlyk etraby (formerly President Niyazov, Lenin District, expanded to include former Ruhabat District plus new territory)
2. Berkararlyk etraby (formerly Azatlyk, Sovetskiy District)
3. Büzmeýin etraby (formerly Abadan District, expanded to include former Arçabil and Çandybil Districts)
4. Köpetdag etraby (formerly Proletarskiy District)

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, 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.[92]

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 the former Gurtly Water Reservoir, recently renamed "Golden Lake" (Altyn köl).[93]

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 the following microdistricts:

• 1 through 11 Etrapça
• 30 Etrapça
• Howdan A
• Howdan B
• Howdan W
• Parahat 1 through 8[94][95][96]

Following independence in 1991, President Saparmurat Niyazov began hiring foreign architectural and construction firms, most prominently Bouygues of France and the Turkish firms Polimeks and Gap Inşaat, the latter a subsidiary of Çalık Holding. These firms blended Persian-style domes, which Niyazov favored, with Greco-Roman architectural elements such as pillars.[98][99][100][101][102]

Following Niyazov's death, domes began to go out of fashion for buildings other than mosques, and public buildings began to take on more modernist characteristics, often with a motif reflecting the structure's intended occupant. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building is topped by a globe of the Earth, inside which is a conference center; the Development Bank building is topped by a giant coin; the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry building is shaped like a stylized caduceus, the dental hospital is shaped like a molar and the international terminal of Ashgabat International Airport is shaped like a falcon.[103] The dominant characteristic of new construction since 1991 has been nearly universal facing with white marble.[104][17] Another recurring motif is the eight-pointed star of Oguz Han, the largest of which is on the television tower and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records.[105][106][107] The official Turkmen government guide book to Ashgabat refers to the star of Oguz Khan as "...the basic dominant of the whole architectural-art decor..."[19]

After independence, the city architect's office ordered construction of many high-rise (generally 12-story) residential buildings. Modern construction techniques allow high-rise development with good seismic safety. Primarily consisting of residential towers, the first floor is typically used as retail space and for building maintenance.[17]

Ashgabat features many sculptures honoring Turkmen, Turkic, and other Islamic poets and heroes. Four statues, of Lenin, Alexander Pushkin, Taras Shevchenko, and Magtymguly, date to the Soviet period, as do a statue and a bust of Turkmen composer Nury Halmammedov. Since then, however, much new sculpture has appeared. In Ylham (Inspiration) Park are found numerous busts and statues. Additional statues can be seen in the VDNH Park. A monumental statue of the current president was dedicated in May 2015 near Ashgabat Stadium. One also finds statues of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Alp Arslan. In addition to the statue of former President Niyazov atop the Neutrality Monument, a gilded statue of him stands before the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a gilded seated statue of him graces the entry to the Turkmen Agricultural University.

Since independence in 1991, several monuments to features of Turkmenistan's governance have been erected: to neutrality, to the constitution, to the renaissance of Turkmenistan, to independence, as well as a special monument to former President Saparmurat Niyazov's magnum opus, Ruhnama.

The memorial complex in Bekrewe includes a statue of a bull with the Earth balanced on its horns, symbolizing the 1948 earthquake, and a statue of two traditionally dressed Turkmen warriors guarding a widow grieving the death of her husband in World War II. The exterior wall of the museum features bas reliefs depicting events in Turkmenistan's history.

In advance of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in September 2017, roughly one billion dollars was spent on widening and upgrading Ashgabat's major thoroughfares.[52] Several traffic circles were created, in which were placed mainly abstract monuments. As of 2020 the most recent addition to these are the Bicycle Monument (Turkmen: Welosiped binasy), which President Berdimuhamedov dedicated on June 3, 2020, and the Turkmen Alabay monument, dedicated on November 10, 2020.[108][109]

Much of the urban renewal since 1991 has involved demolition of traditional single-family residential housing, commonly with allegedly forced eviction of residents, and often without compensation to the homeowners. In particular, private homes rebuilt in neighborhoods flattened by the 1948 earthquake, many of which were never formally registered with the government, were subject to confiscation and demolition without compensation, as were former dacha communities like Ruhabat, Berzengi, and Choganly, which in nearly all cases lacked formal ownership documents.[110][111][112][113][114][115]

First Bahá'í House of Worship 1908

When Ashgabat was under Russian rule, the number of Bahá'ís in the city rose to over 1,000, and a Bahá'í community was established, with its own schools, medical facilities and cemetery. The community elected one of the first Bahá'í local administrative institutions. In 1908 the Bahá'í community completed the construction of the first Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of mašriqu-l-'aḏkār (Arabic: مشرق اﻻذكار),[116] where people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions.[117] The building was designed under the guidance of `Abdu'l-Bahá by Ustad' Ali-Akbar Banna Yazdi who also wrote a history of the Baha'is in Ashgabat.[118][119]

The House of Worship itself was surrounded by gardens, with four buildings at the four corners of the gardens: a school, a hostel where travelling Bahá'ís were entertained, a small hospital, and a building for groundskeepers.[119]

Under the Soviet policy towards religion, the Bahá'ís, strictly adhering to their principle of obedience to legal government, abandoned these properties in 1928.[120] For the decade from 1938 to 1948, when it was seriously damaged by the earthquake, it was an art gallery. It was demolished in 1963.[117]

The Arch of Neutrality was dismantled and re-erected in its original form in the south of the capital.

Turkmenistan Tower, the television and radio broadcasting tower, at a height of 211 meters is the tallest structure in the country. It was dedicated on October 17, 2011.[17]

The administrative center of Ashgabat as the national capital is on the Archabil highway, where several ministries and agencies, as well as educational, research, and cultural centers, are found.[121] The former Novofiryuzenskoye shosse (New Firyuza Highway) was rebuilt by Gap Inşaat in 2004.

Panorama of Ashgabat at night

Between 1881 and 1921, little industry existed in Ashgabat. Muradov relates that in 1915 the city featured "68 enterprises, mainly semi-handicrafts, with a total of 200-300 workers."[18] Another source relates that as of 1911 roughly half the workforce of somewhat more than 400 "workers" was employed at the railroad depot, engaged in locomotive and railcar maintenance and repair, with the rest occupied in cotton ginning, cottonseed oil extraction, flour milling, and leather-, brick-, glass-, and iron production.[15] By 1915 the city boasted as well three printing houses, an electrical power station, three cotton gins, a creamery, a tannery, and 35 brickyards.[19]

In 1921 Soviet authorities built a new glass plant plus a wine and spirits factory. In the years following several more factories were added, including the "Red Metalworker" iron-working plant (1925), the silk spinning plant (1928), a cotton spinning plant and textile plant (1929), candy factory (1930), garment factory (1933), shoe factory (1934), and a meat cannery (1938).[15] As of 1948, Ashgabat boasted "about twenty large factory-plant enterprises, which produce fabrics, glass, footwear, garments, meat products, dredges, agricultural implement parts and much else."[20][125]

Annexation of the former city of Buzmeyin (Turkmen: Büzmeýin), which from 2002 to 2018 was known as Abadan,[91] brought into Ashgabat's city limits its major industrial suburb. Today's Buzmeyin neighborhood features the Buzmeyin State Electrical Power Plant, and factories for production of reinforced concrete, cement, asbestos roofing, pipes, and concrete blocks, as well as a carpet-weaving factory and soft-drink bottling plant.[15]

Today more than 43 large and 128 medium-sized industrial enterprises along with over 1,700 small industrial facilities are located in Ashgabat and its suburbs.[126] The most important are Ashneftemash, Turkmenkabel, and Turkmenbashy Textile Complex.[127]

The Abadan State Power Plant (now Büzmeýin State Power Plant), commissioned in 1957, was the first large power plant in Turkmenistan. Two gas turbine plants with a capacity of 123 MW each currently generate electricity in this plant.[128] The Ashgabat State Power Plant, located in the southern part of city, began operating in 2006. It is equipped with gas turbine generators with a total capacity of 254.2 megawatts.[128]

Ashgabat also draws power from the Ahal State Power Plant, located outside the city in Ahal Province. It began operating in 2010 with two gas turbines producing 254.2 MW. Three small gas turbines were added in 2013 and two more gas turbines in 2014, bringing capacity to 648.1 MW.[128]

Turkmen carpets in Altyn Asyr Bazaar

Altyn Asyr Bazaar in Choganly, also known as "Tolkuchka", features manufactured items including traditional fabrics and hand-woven carpets, as well as livestock and used automobiles. Modern shopping areas are found mostly in central streets, including the modern Berkarar Mall and the Paýtagt and Aşgabat shopping centres, as well as the 15 Years of Independence Shopping Centre (Turkmen: 15 ýyl Garaşsyzlyk söwda merkezi), colloquially known as the "Wholesale Market" (Russian: Optovyy rynok).[129][130][131]

Local residents tend to shop at traditional bazaars: Gülistan (Russian) Bazaar, Teke Bazaar, Daşoguz Bazaar, Paytagt (Mir) Bazaar, and Jennet Bazaar. The Turkish-owned Yimpaş department store closed as of December 2016.[132]

Turkmenistan Railways Diesel locomotive CKD9A in Ashgabat

Ashgabat has a single central railway station. In May 2009 the restoration of the Ashgabat railway station was completed. The railway station is made in Soviet-style architecture with its long point on the building roof.

The Trans-Caspian Railway (Türkmenbaşy–Balkanabat–Bereket–Ashgabat–Mary–Türkmenabat) runs through Ashgabat from east to west. Since 2006 there is also a train line from Ashgabat to the north, the Trans-Karakum Railway.[144]

As of July 2021, the following railway trips are scheduled from and to Ashgabat:[145][146][147][148]

• Ashgabat-Balkanabat
• Ashgabat-Türkmenbaşy
• Ashgabat-Dashoguz
• Ashgabat-Sarahs
• Ashgabat-Serhetabat
• Ashgabat-Amyderýa

Bus stop with air conditioning in Ashgabat

Public transport in the city consists mainly of buses. More than 100 bus[149][150] lines cover a total range of more than 2,230 kilometres (1,386 miles) with 700 buses running on urban routes. The city primarily uses Iran Khodro 0457 (Mercedes-Benz) and Hyundai New Super Aero City[151] buses.[152] Bus timetables and detailed schematic map of the route are at every stop. Distances between stops are about 300–500 meters.

Travel in the Ashgabat city public transport for the majority of the country's population incurs a fee. Money is thrown into a box next to the driver. Large bills are given to the driver, he gives change. The fare for travel in city public transport is 50 Turkmen tenge (since 2017).[153] Route taxi (marshrutka) is 1 manat.

Information about bus routes and stops in Ashgabat is available in the mobile application Duralga.[154]

From November 1, 2017, the electronic system of payment for public transport came into full force in Ashgabat. Payment can be made using an electronic transport card. There are three types of electronic cards: school, for pensioners and general. When entering through the front door of the bus, the passenger must present the electronic card to the validator. The term of use of the transport electronic card is 4 years.[155]

The new International Passenger Bus Terminal of Ashgabat was inaugurated on September 5, 2014.[156][157] It offers intercity service to Bäherden, Türkmenbaşy, Dashoguz, Turkmenabat, Archman, Konye-Urgench, and Mollagara, as well as points in between.[158] The main intracity bus terminals serving Ashgabat are near the Teke Bazaar and at the domestic airport terminal. Intercity lines are operated by Hyundai Universe Luxury, Iran Khodro SC 0457, Sahab Renault and Yutong ZK6129H.

Also, suburban communication has been established with Ýaşlyk, Geok Tepe, Gorjaw, Yzgant, Babarap, Bugdaýly, Annau, Gämi, Owadandepe, Watan, Khurmant, Onaldy, Gami Dacha, Kasamly Julge, Gäwers, Yashyldepe, Akdashayak, Niyazow, Suitchilik, Parahat. PAZ 32054 buses and Volkswagen minibuses operate on suburban routes.[159]

From 19 October 1964 to 31 December 2011 the city also had the Ashgabat trolleybus system. At the beginning of the twentieth century a narrow-gauge steam railway connected the city with the suburb of Firyuza. As of 2011, there were 7 routes in the city. As of 2011, the Ashgabat trolleybus fleet had 47 trolleybuses (Škoda 14TrM) on its balance sheet. In 2000, the last obsolete trolleybuses of the JuMZ-T2 model were written off.

In Ashgabat taxis are available at any time of the day or night.[160] Awtomobil Ulag Hyzmat OJSC is the monopoly taxicab operator in the city.[161] The fleet uses only new Toyota Corolla[162] (white) and Hyundai Elantra (yellow) automobiles.[163] Taxi fare is from 5 to 30 manats, depending on the distance from the city center and the results of negotiations with the driver.[164]

Passengers may also hire taxicabs via mobile apps Onlaýn taksi and Taxi hyzmaty.[165][166]

Notable newspapers published in Ashgabat include the daily newspapers Türkmenistan and Neytralny Turkmenistan.[170]

Turkmenistan Tower

The main offices of 7 television channels are located in Ashgabat: Altyn Asyr, Yashlyk, Miras, Turkmenistan Sport, Turkmen Owazy, Ashgabat and Turkmenistan TV.[171]

Ashgabat TV is main city channel. The channel tells about the events of social, cultural, economic life, the activities of scientific and educational institutions of the Ashgabat.[172][173]

Almost 136[174] international TV channels are available in the IPTV playlist for subscribers of the Ashgabat City Telephone Network.[175] Most of them are thematic channels: news, sports, scientific and educational, TV channels for children, channels of various genres of cinema, music.[174]

Residents of Ashgabat also watch television via satellite dishes.[176]

As of 2008, Ashgabat has 4 FM stations: Owaz, Char Tarapdan, Miras and Watan. These stations can additionally be streamed through Turkmentelecom's website.[177]

• Oguzhan Presidential Palace, the official presidential headquarters.
• Ruhyýet Palace, a place for official state events, forums, meetings, inaugurations.
• Wedding Palace, a civil registry building.[195]

Ashgabat's major theaters are:

• Alp Arslan National Drama Theatre
• Magtymguly National Musical and Drama Theatre
• Main Drama Theatre named by Saparmurat Turkmenbashi
• Mollanepes Students Theatre
• Mukams Palace
• Pushkin State Russian Drama Theatre
• Theatre "Art Ist"
• Turkmen State Puppet Theatere
• Turkmen State Circus

Each of several former municipalities annexed by Ashgabat also features local a "house of culture" Turkmen: Medeniýet Öýi.

Ashgabat has many parks and open spaces, mainly established in the early years of the Independence and well maintained and expanded thereafter. The most important of these parks are: the Botanical Garden, Güneş, Turkmen-Turkish friendship, Independence. The oldest city park, Ashgabat, was founded in 1887 and is colloquially known as First Park.[196] In the center of Ashgabat is the Inspiration Alley, an art-park complex which is a favorite place for many locals. The amusement park World of Turkmenbashi Tales is a local equivalent to Disneyland. Squares: 10 Years of Turkmenistan Independence, Magtymguly, Eternal Flame, Zelili, Chyrchyk, Garashsyzlyk, March 8, Gerogly, Dolphin, 15 years of Independence, Ruhyýet, 10 ýyl Abadançylyk, Ylham and Tashkent.

The Ashgabat Botanical Garden was founded on 1 October 1929, and is the oldest botanical garden in Central Asia.[197][198][199] It covers a territory of approximately 18 hectares, and contains a live exhibition of more than 500 different species of plants coming from various parts of the world.[200][201]

Halk Hakydasy Memorial Complex was opened in 2014 in remembrance of those killed in the Battle of Geok Tepe in 1881, during World War II, and to commemorate of the victims of the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake. It is located in the southwestern part of the city on Bekreve street.[202][203]

Ashgabat has five cinemas. In 2011, Aşgabat Cinema, the first 3-D cinema in Turkmenistan, opened in Ashgabat.[204] The Watan and Turkmenistan theaters were reconstructed. Additional cinemas are located in the Berkarar Mall and the Gül zemin Mall.

Major mosques in Ashgabat include:

• Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque
• Ärtogrul Gazy Mosque, a gift from Turkey, was inaugurated in 1998 and resembles the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.
• Hezreti Osman Mosque in the 8th microdistrict
• Hezreti Omar Mosque in the Parahat 7 microdistrict[205]
• Azadi Mosque on Zarpçi köçesi
• Shehitler (Turkmen: Şehitler) mosque on Görogly köçesi
• Iranian mosque near the Iranian Embassy

There are also several mosques in former towns and villages annexed by Ashgabat and thus now neighborhoods within the city limits.

Ashgabat has five operating Christian churches. Four are Russian Orthodox churches:[206]

• Saint Alexander Nevsky Church, founded in 1882 as parish church of the Russian military garrison, consecrated in 1900, located in the 30th Microdistrict (Russian: Храм святого благоверного великого князя Александра Невского)
• Temple of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, located inside the Khitrovka Cemetery (Russian: храм святителя и Чудотворца Николая)
• Temple of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, located near the Ruhnama School (Russian: храм Воскресения Христова)
• Temple of the Holy Equals to Apostles Cyril and Methodius, located in Büzmeýin (Russian: Храм святых равноапостольных Кирилла и Мефодия)

The Roman Catholic Chapel of the Transfiguration operates on the grounds of the Apostolic nunciature.

Other Christian denominations exist but as of 2019 only two were registered with the government and thus able to operate legally. The U.S. Department of State reported that Turkmen authorities "scrutinize or obstruct religious groups attempting to purchase or lease buildings or land for religious purposes."[207]

Ashgabat cooperates with:[218]

• Yerevan, Armenia (2014)
• Tokyo, Japan (2014)

• Е. М. Поспелов (Ye. M. Pospelov). "Имена городов: вчера и сегодня (1917–1992). Топонимический словарь." (City Names: Yesterday and Today (1917–1992). Toponymic Dictionary.) Москва, "Русские словари", 1993.