Kunya Urgench

Kunya-Urgench

Köneürgenç
Soltan Tekesh Mausoleum in Kunya Urgench
Shown within Turkmenistan
Alternate name	Kunya-Urgench Old Urgench Urganj
Location	Daşoguz Province, Turkmenistan
Coordinates	42°20′N 59°09′E / 42.333°N 59.150°E / 42.333; 59.150Coordinates: 42°20′N 59°09′E / 42.333°N 59.150°E / 42.333; 59.150
Type	Settlement
History
Periods	Khwarazmian dynasty
Cultures	Khwarezm
Site notes
Condition	Ruined
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Kunya-Urgench
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii
Designated	2005 (29th session)
Reference no.	1199
State Party	Turkmenistan
Region	Asia and Australasia

Konye-Urgench (Turkmen: 'Köneürgenç'; Russian: Куня Ургенч, Kunya Urgench – from Persian Kohna Gorgānj کهنه گرگانج), also known as Kunya-Urgench, Old Urgench or Urganj, is a municipality of about 30,000 inhabitants in north Turkmenistan, just south from its border with Uzbekistan. It is the site of the ancient town of Ürgenç (Urgench), which contains the ruins of the capital of Khwarezm, a part of the Achaemenid Empire. Its inhabitants deserted the town in the 1700s in order to develop a new settlement, and Kunya-Urgench has remained undisturbed ever since. In 2005, the ruins of Old Urgench were inscribed on the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. (See List of World Heritage Sites in Turkmenistan)

Located on the south side of the Amu-Darya River, Old Ürgenç was situated on one of the most important medieval paths: the Silk Road, the crossroad of western and eastern civilisations. It is one of the most important archaeological sites in Turkmenistan, lying within a vast zone of protected landscape and containing a large number of well-preserved monuments, dating from the 11th to the 16th centuries. They comprise mosques, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a minaret, and the influence of their architectural style and craftsmanship reached Iran, Afghanistan and the later architecture of the Mogul Empire of 16th-century India.