Dekhistan

This place is often referred to as the «Martian Plain.» Once a thriving oasis surrounded by rivers and lush gardens, Dehistan has transformed over the centuries into a desolate desert. The once-vibrant waters dried up, forcing the inhabitants to abandon their settlements and seek more fertile lands elsewhere. What remains today are the ruins of Akga-Kala and Shadur-Kala, standing in stark contrast to the lifeless plain that now surrounds them.

Nestled in western Turkmenistan near the Caspian Sea, Dehistan lies within the Misrian Valley, one of the country’s most unusual and captivating regions. Due to the area’s infertile soil, there has been minimal construction, allowing many historical monuments to remain intact over the centuries.

Dehistan is renowned for its stunning ancient towers and monuments dating back to the 10th to 12th centuries, including one of the oldest mosques from the early Islamic period, which stands on the ancient Mashat burial ground. Isolated and remote, Dehistan was once a flourishing medieval city strategically positioned along the caravan routes between Khorezm and Persian Hyrcania.

During the 8th to 14th centuries, Dehistan, also known as Misrian (or Misr/Messorian), was the most significant medieval oasis in southwestern Turkmenistan. The city reached its zenith under the rule of the Khorezmshah dynasty. The numerous ruins scattered across the landscape stand as silent witnesses to its former grandeur. The city was divided into a fortified «shakhristan» (the old area) with a citadel and a «rabat» (residential and commercial quarters). Today, only a few key structures have survived, including the famous Shir-Kabir mausoleum from the 11th to 12th centuries, two towering 25-meter minarets, the portal of a grand mosque, remnants of clay city walls, and ruins of caravanserais and mausoleums in the Mashat necropolis.

The caravanserais located outside the fortifications reveal the locations of the city gates and the paths of the caravan routes that once connected Dehistan to distant lands. Although the city has deteriorated significantly over time, with most of its structures now buried beneath desert sands, Dehistan holds immense historical and cultural value. It is said that the great Persian poet Firdausi penned parts of his famous epic, the «Shahnameh,» here, further cementing the city’s place in the annals of history.