Castle Map

Ruin

Great Kyz Kala

Turkmenistan

Location
Baýramaly District
Coordinates
37.65505°, 62.15256°
Links
OpenStreetMap · Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Wikipedia ↗
Great Kyz Kala in Turkmenistan
Photo: GaiJorayev · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

The Great Kyz Kala is a large ruined fortress in the ancient city of Merv, now in Turkmenistan. It is an example of a köshk or kushk type of fortress: an earthen building built on a raised platform, with exterior walls formed of large vertical engaged columns (a series of octagonal half-columns) with large corrugations. These fortresses are equipped with internal palatial rooms, often decorated. It occupied an area of 1,569.84 square metres (16,897.6 sq ft).

The construction date is rather uncertain, with some authors arguing for an early 6th to 7th century date, attributing it to the Sasanian Empire (224–651). It is also attributed to the 8th/9th century CE, corresponding to the Umayyad or Abbasid period.

The Great Kyz Kala was an elite palatial suburban residence, perhaps meant for the use of the governor of Merv. It remained in use until the Seljuks as a function room. A smaller fortress nearby is the Little Kyz Kala.

Text adapted from “Great Kyz Kala” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Great Kyz Kala ranks #4,598 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #2 of the 2 mapped in Turkmenistan. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,001 times in the last 60 days, more than 81% of the atlas. See how Turkmenistan compares in the castle statistics.

Castles nearby

More castles in Turkmenistan