Turkmenistan is famous for its rich history, distinctive traditions, majestic buildings and exotic nature. In this post you will find out about 5 unusual museums of the country, where you will be able to experience the culture, history and understand the mindset and vector of development of Turkmenistan.

National Museum of the Turkmen Carpet. Yes, yes, we have a whole museum dedicated to the pride of the Turkmen people – the carpets. By the way, this is the only museum of carpets in the world! It is located in the center of Ashgabat and has been operating since 1993. The purpose of creating such a museum was the desire to save and revive Turkmen carpet weaving. Turkmen carpets are so famous and popular that you can find them almost anywhere in the world. An interesting fact about the museum is that here is the smallest carpet product in the world, designed to carry keys. As well as the largest handmade carpet measuring 301 sq. m., which entered the Guinness Book of Records! There is also a carpet holiday in Turkmenistan, and its ornaments are represented on the national flag of the country.

National Museum «Ak Bugday» (from Turkm. “white wheat”) is located in the city of Annau, not far from the place where 5-thousand-year-old wheat grains were found during archaeological excavations in 1904. So, the ancestors of the Turkmen people were among the first who began to grow wheat and bake bread from white flour. Ak Bugday is the only wheat museum in the world. There are exhibits of antiquity – stone grain grinders (2000 BC), a bronze hoe (2000 BC), figurines of fertility goddesses (4000 BC), that very wheat grains, ceramics, tools, tableware and much more. The building itself looks like a sheaf of wheat with a giant wheel in the center that stretches into the sky.

Ak Bugday

Museum of the Great Patriotic War, which was named The Panfilov Museum before, is located in the city of Turkmenabat in the Lebap region. This is a unique place with history, as the museum is located in the house where the Soviet hero I.V. Panfilov lived.

Photo from author’s archive

Here you will find letters of soldiers from the battlefront, their uniforms, weapons of that time, photographs, documentation about the great contribution made by Turkmen men and women to the approach of victory. An interesting fact is that the museum guards say that at night they hear footsteps and noise from certain rooms, while there is no one there…

Photo from author’s archive

Turkmenistan is one of the four countries with the status of permanent neutrality. By the 16th anniversary of the country’s neutrality, a branch of the main national museum of Turkmenistan with the same name was opened. An interesting fact is that December 12, 1995 – the date of gaining the status of neutrality – is originally inscribed in the architectural structures of the building. The height of the building is 95 meters. The structure is located on 3 powerful columns, creating the shape of a tripod. The Museum of Neutrality is located on the ground floor.

The Museum of Neutrality

Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan — it is one of the largest museums in Central Asia. It is located in the center of Ashgabat and consists of 11 exhibition halls. Here you can see works of local art, as well as samples of European and Asian art. In addition to the expositions, the museum building includes restoration workshops, a library, a laboratory and a storage room.

Would you visit these museums? What museum did you like the most?