Our first excursion outside of Ashgabat was towards the southwest. We visited the UNESCO site of Old Nisa. Old Nisa was built in the third century BC and it was destroyed in the third century AD by the Persians. Old Nisa was the capital of Parthia. In that period, the Parthian Empire was a world power. Our local guide said that Old Nisa was a rival to Rome for control of the Near East. Today, it’s one of Turkmenistan’s most significant cultural sites.

In the first photo, we are just inside the high defensive earthen outer wall. The city had two ponds for water and one can be seen directly in front between the outer wall and the inner wall. It’s dry now and there is another such pond on the left of the walkway in the photo.

Vicky is just inside the inner wall and to the right of the main entry. During part of the time, Old Nisa was a palace, an imperial residence, and had a large concentration of temple buildings. The fortress walls were 25 to 30 feet wide at their base and were strengthened by 43 rectangular towers. Archeological excavations have been going on here for 70 years. Much has been learned about the ancient Parthian Empire. All good artifacts have been removed to museums and the only remaining ones are just broken pieces.

I’m not sure to what degree corridors and wall such as in the third photo are original or have been reconditioned. Of course, most of this area was all under a roof originally. And while this place has had many excavations, it’s almost all still completely exposed to sun, wind, and rains. This is evidently not a priority for the President of Turkmenistan.

The pillar bases in the fourth photo supported the roof of this building which was the stronghold room. The room was 65 feet in diameter. There were four such columns for support of the roof. Other rooms included the treasury, storerooms, and a huge wine warehouse. The wine warehouse was empty.

The last photo shows some of the unfinished and refinished wall sections. In addition, the mountains behind in the photo are the divide between Turkmenistan and Iran. At Old Nisa, Iran is probably less than 10 miles away. Iran used to be Persia which is who destroyed Old Nisa.