List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan

Kunya-Urgench

Parthian Fortresses of Nisa

Merv

class=notpageimage|

Location of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Below is the list and the tentative list of sites in Turkmenistan. (For the criteria see the Selection criteria)

The list	Name	Date [1]	Criteria	Province
Main list [2]
	Kunya-Urgench	2005	II,III	Dashoguz Velayet (Province)
	Parthian Fortresses of Nisa	2007	II,III	Akhal Velayet
	State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancient Merv”	1999	II,III	Mary Velayet
Tentative list [3]
	Dehistan / Mishrian	1998	I,II,III,IV,V	Balkan Velayet
	Badhyz State Nature Reserve	2009	VII,IX,X	Mary and Akhal Velayats
	Sünt-Hasardag Nature Reserve	2009	X	Balkan Velayat
	Dinosaurs and Caves of Koytendag	2009	VIII,X	Lebap Velayat
	Repetek Biosphere State Reserve	2009	X	Lebap Velayat
	Amyderýa Nature Reserve	2009	X	Lebap Velayat
	Hazar State Nature Reserve	2009	X	Balkan Velayat
	Silk Roads Sites in Turkmenistan	2010	II,III,IV,V,VI

World Heritage Sites

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural. ^[4]

  * Transnational site

World Heritage Sites

Site	Image	Location	Year listed	UNESCO data	Description
Kunya-Urgench		Daşoguz Region	2005	1199; ii, iii (cultural)	Urgench is situated in north-western Turkmenistan, on the left bank of the Amu Daria River. Urgench was the capital of the Khorezm region, part of the Achaemenid Empire. The old town contains a series of monuments mainly from the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a 60-m high minaret. The monuments testify to outstanding achievements in architecture and craftsmanship whose influence reached Iran and Afghanistan, and later the architecture of the Mogul Empire of 16th-century India. [5]
Parthian Fortresses of Nisa		Ahal Region	2007	1242; ii, iii (cultural)	The Parthian Fortresses of Nisa consist of two tells of Old and New Nisa, indicating the site of one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, a major power from the mid 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. They conserve the unexcavated remains of an ancient civilization which skilfully combined its own traditional cultural elements with those of the Hellenistic and Roman west. Archaeological excavations in two parts of the site have revealed richly decorated architecture, illustrative of domestic, state and religious functions. Situated at the crossroads of important commercial and strategic axes, this powerful empire formed a barrier to Roman expansion while serving as an important communication and trading centre between east and west, north and south. [6]
Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor *		several sites	2023	1675; ii, iii, v (cultural)	The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor is a key section of the Silk Roads in Central Asia that connects other corridors from all directions. Located in rugged mountains, fertile river valleys, and uninhabitable desert, the 866-kilometre corridor runs from east to west along the Zarafshan River and further southwest following the ancient caravan roads crossing the Karakum Desert to the Merv Oasis. Channelling much of the east-west exchange along the Silk Roads from the 2nd century BCE to the 16th century CE, a large quantity of goods was traded along the corridor. People travelled, settled, conquered, or were defeated here, making it a melting pot of ethnicities, cultures, religions, sciences, and technologies. [7]
State Historical and Cultural Park “Ancient Merv”		Mary Region	1999	886; ii, iii (cultural)	Merv is the oldest and best-preserved of the oasis-cities along the Silk Route in Central Asia. The remains in this vast oasis span 4,000 years of human history. A number of monuments are still visible, particularly from the last two millennia. [8]
Cold winter deserts of Turan *		Ahal Region, Daşoguz Region, Lebap Region	2023	1693; ix, x (natural)	This property, shared with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, comprises 14 sites that represent the ecosystems of Central Asian deserts with harsh continental climate with very cold winters and hot summers. The deserts are home to numerous plant species, as well as saiga antelope and goitered gazelle. Four areas are listed in Kazakhstan: Bereketli Garagum Nature Reserve, Gaplaňgyr Nature Reserve, Repetek Biosphere State Reserve (pictured). [9]

Gallery

• 
  Kunya
• 
  Nisa
• 
  Merv

References and notes

1. Main list:Date of inscription Tentative list:Date of Submission
2. UNESCO Official page for main list
3. UNESCO Official page for Tentative list
4. "UNESCO World Heritage Centre – The Criteria for Selection". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
5. "Kunya-Urgench". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
6. "Parthian Fortresses of Nisa". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
7. | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1675/|}}
8. "State Historical and Cultural Park "Ancient Merv"". UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
9. "Cold winter deserts of Turan". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 23 September 2023.