Gyaur-Kala in Merv

Gyaur-Kala, meaning «Fortress of the Infidels,» is a remarkable ancient stronghold located in the Merv Oasis of Turkmenistan (not to be confused with a similarly named fortress in Uzbekistan). These picturesque ruins are shrouded in legends and continue to captivate both tourists and scholars alike. The fortified settlement, which dates back to the 4th-3rd centuries BCE, was home to potters, millers, flour merchants, and blacksmiths.

Gyaur-Kala outlasted many other fortresses in the region due to its strategic location at the crossroads of trade routes. The northern routes of the Great Silk Road passed nearby, and wealthy caravans traversed the settlement year-round. Archaeologists have uncovered statues of Buddha, clay tablets, and stupas, suggesting that the inhabitants of the settlement practiced Buddhism.

Within the fortress walls once stood the thriving city of Antiochia in Margiana, built under the direction of the Seleucid ruler Antiochus Soter (280-261 BCE) in the classical architectural style. Additionally, Antiochus ordered the construction of a 230-kilometer-long wall around the entire oasis. This imposing barrier protected the city from encroaching desert sands and provided a formidable defense against warlike nomadic tribes.

The name «Gyaur-Kala» was bestowed upon the area in the 8th century, after the Arab conquest of Central Asia. The Arab invaders used the term «fortresses of the infidels» to describe all fortified settlements whose inhabitants did not follow Islam. Gyaur-Kala flourished until the 8th-9th centuries when the center of Ancient Merv shifted 4 kilometers westward to Sultan-Kala. However, potters continued to live in the fortress, and a mosque was eventually established there.