Historical tours over ancient Merv.

«Scattered over hundreds of acres of desert a short drive east of Mary the7"re is a desolate collection of walls and ramparts and one huge, partly ruined mausoleum. This is what remains of old Merv the “pearl of the East”, second city of Islam after Baghdad between the VIII and XIII centuries – and site of the most horrific slaughter in all the Mongols bloody rampagning through Eurasia»

 Bus excursions to ancient Merv.  

The Talkhatan Baba Mosque is located at an altitude of 333 meters above sea level in the central part of the ancient necropolis, 43 kilometers southeast of the city of Mary, 28.4 kilometers south and slightly east of the city of Bayrmali, 11.1 kilometers south -west from the village of Turkmengala, 1 kilometer from the Mary-Yeleten highway in the Iolotan etrap of the Mary velayat.
Talkhatan Baba Mosque dates back to the XIth century. Its value lies in the good preservation of the monument. For some unknown reason, the Mongols did not destroy Dalgatan, as this city is called by historians and geographers of those times.
The mausoleum of Talkhatan baba, a masterpiece of Seljuk architecture, impresses with its balance and harmony of proportions, the skill of brickwork, brought to virtuosity. The first scientific description of the mosque was given by V.A. Zhukovsky in the 1890s.
In the 1950s, it was surveyed in detail by the architect A.M. Pribytkova.
The mosque is a slightly elongated structure 18 by 10 meters with a domed space of a mihrab and two wings on the sides. The wings are covered with balkhi vaults. Two burials are outside the building in front of the wide arch of the eastern façade.
This monument amazes with the ingenuity of the master in choosing a pattern for ornamental masonry from fired square and figured bricks. The lancet niche of the mihrab is inscribed in a rectangular frame made in the same ornamental masonry as the tier of the sails.
According to the composition, it is a regular rectangle without any canopies, domes or columns, but the main facade is framed by three arches at once. The middle arch is the widest. It corresponds to the central part of the building.
The two smaller ones on either side of it are lateral. Thus, it seems that the mosque is divided by arches into three sections. Balance and harmony are enhanced by the brilliant ornamentation of the walls and the uniformity of the external and internal decor, created with the use of burnt bricks.
Geographic coordinates of the Talkhatan Baba Mosque: N37 ° 22'18.57 "E62 ° 13'58.24"

Athority:
Bernshtam A.N. «History-archeologic sketches Central Tien-Shan and Pamir-Alay». «Religious and spiritual monuments of the Central Asia». The author of M. Khashimov. Publishing house "Saga", 2001 Tolstov S.P. «Ancient Khoresm», 1848. Tolstov S.P. «On traces Ancient Khorezm civilizations», М.-L., 1948.