| Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan has borne this name
since 1881. According to archeological delta, settlements belonging to the Great
Silk Road have existed on the territory of the present city since at least the
end of the first millennium BC. The chronological distance between them and the
present city is so great, that we are unable to speak about any town-building
continuity. That connection traces back to the beginning of XIX century, when
there was a Turkmen urban settlement here, called Ashgabat.
In the Turkmen folklore the name of the city is linked with
the meaning “a city of love”. According to a legend, when Nisa was under the
rule Nurahmed, and Anau was under the rule of Pirahmed, Allah put a veto on
love. But against the interdiction, the daughter and the son of these governors
fell in love to each other. Realizing the threat to their safety, they hid
themselves to the desert, until at last, parched with thirst, they came to the
mountain range, found a lonely spring, and ran to quench their thirst, but it
suddenly had dried. The lovers went further, where they met a mountain river,
but no sooner had they fallen to drink, it evaporated. Then the young man dug
to reach underground springs, which made Allah angry again, and He sent Azrail,
the angel-divider, to them. However, God’s envoy failed to carry out the
sentence: having looked at the girl, he fell in love and forgot the mission.
And then a spring of the same crystalline purity as love itself gushed out of
the ground. They decided to stay here, near the wonderful spring which saved
their lives; and after hearing their history other people moved here, too.
Love is not only an integral part of the name of the city, but also a
feeling familiar to all generations of the citizens of Ashgabat. The present
Ashgabat distinguishes itself with its own style, harmoniously combining the
best traditions of its own national architecture and the achievements of the
modern town-building. |
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