Old Nisa, Ashgabat

Old Nisa, Ashgabat (Turkmenistan)

18 km to the west from Ashgabat there overlook the ruins of Nisa the capital of ancient Parthia existed at the turn of the I millennium BC and I millennium AD. In the III century BC New Nisa was the capital of Parthia and the Old Nisa fortress was an imperial residence at that time.Old Nisa was the place where palace and temple buildings were concentrated. There also located a treasury huge wine warehouse and storerooms with numerous stocks. The fortress walls were 8-9 m thick in their base and were strengthened with 43 rectangular towers.The latest find in Old Nisa a unique fresco fragment is a genuine masterpiece of Parthian pictorial art.The fortress at Nisa was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007.