National Museum of Turkmenistan

Located on the southern outskirts of the city against the backdrop of the picturesque Kopetdag mountains the National Museum of Turkmenistan has a rich and informative display on the Turkmen history and nature, ethnography and traditional art. About 500,000 museum objects are on show now. Turkmenistan was among the countries where the human beings began to be formed. The museum can boast of the country's most significant archaeological finds from the Stone, Eneolithic, Bronze, Iron and Middle Ages. The gems of the museum collection on archaeology are the unique finds from Nisa, a 2 nd century BC Parthian royal fortress. They are marvelous horn-shaped vessels of carved ivory, marble statues of Greek divinities, refined silk-gilt tiny figures, gold adornments and many other items.

Visitors to the museum can also familiarize with a fine range of silk embroidered garments worn by the different Turkmen tribes, a nice collection of oriental weapons, gorgeous pieces of jewelry, superb Turkmen rugs and many other wonderful traditional items. The Turkmen land possesses all possible kinds of landscape: the Caspian Sea , the Karakum desert, mountains, rivers, lakes and steppes. Lovers of nature can familiarize with all the variety of Turkmenistan 's scenery refering to the stuffed animals and birds displayed here. The highlight of this collection is a huge lump of the meteorite that landed in the northern part of Turkmenistan in 1996. The museum is itself worthy of a visit. This impressive three-story building, constructed in 1998, dominates the scenery and provides a pleasant pastime both inside and outside the museum.