It is perhaps a bit surprising that Kunya-Urgenche, the ancient capital of the Khorezm state (see my review of the Itchan Kala), has been inscribed when there are several other nearby Central Asian historic cities which have also been. But I suppose it is no different from the large number of European cathedrals which have succeeded!

If you want to see it you have to run the gauntlet of the Turkmenistan bureaucracy – first to get a visa and then to get in to the country! I have included a section at the end on our hassles in Oct 2004 which may be of interest/use to anyone intending to go! If you still want to visit you will discover a dusty town, some mosques and a few scattered ruins (and virtually NO tourists!):- In particular a very tall and somewhat rickety minaret looking a bit like a factory chimney and various tombs and mausoleums (photo). Some of these (e.g. the Mausoleum of Turabeg Khanym) are considered masterpieces of Islamic architecture of their era and would certainly appeal to enthusiasts. In 1219 Kunya’s ruler rather unwisely ordered the destruction of a caravan from Genghis Khan with the result that Genghis returned 2 years later and laid waste to all the cities of the area! Kunya recovered, but was destroyed again by Tamburlane in 1379 - the atmosphere of semi-desolation in the desert does have a certain appeal.

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To us however one of the most interesting sights was an area where local people came to pray for fertility. The ground and rocks were strewn with little hand-made dolls, tiny cribs and candles. A poignant reminder of the fear of childlessness in that society and also of the fact that Islam in Central Asia is mingled with non Islamic, shamanistic and Zoroastrian influences.

(We crossed from Nukus in Uzbekistan where we had been up to the Aral Sea to Turkmenistan at Korjeli. This is actually the closest border to Kunya-Urgenche but caused much concern as our visa apparently stated that we would cross some 100 kms away at Dashigas from Khiva (the Visa officer in London hadn’t read our itinerary properly and had just listed the more normal tourist crossing point, so check your passport for the entry port when you get your visa!) and special arrangements had to be made by our agent in Turkmenistan to allow this. The frontier with Uzbekistan is completely artificial anyway and road and rail links in the area are being re-sited to take account of these post-Soviet borders and avoid unnecessary “criss-crossing”. Then it turned out that the border was closed to locals because of the upcoming 13th anniversary celebrations of the rule of Turkmenbashi. The officials seemed to be on the highest alert and the lack of anyone else to search meant that every single item of our baggage was minutely examined over a period of an hour. My wife’s nightdress caused particular concern as it kept causing the metal detector to bleep – it turned out that there was a pen on the table they had laid it out on to test!)