Magtymguly (formerly Garrygala, Kara-Kala, russian: Кара-Кала) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

( tk, şäher) in far south-western

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

Balkan Province Balkan Region ( tk, Balkan welaýaty, Балкан велаяты) is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and ...

. It lies west of Aydere and is the administrative capital of Magtymguly District. In 1972 it had a population of 5700 inhabitants, rising to 8412 in 1989. It is located in the foothills of the

Kopet Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپه‌داغ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast o ...

mountain range, and it lies on the

Sumbar River The Sumbar (also Sari-su, Sara-su and Ṣáríṣú) is a fast flowing river in southern Turkmenistan and northern Iran. It a tributary of the Atrek. The name Sari-su means ''yellow water'' in Turkic languages, but is applied to a number of other ...

, a tributary of the

Atrek River The Atrek ( fa, اترک, ku, Etrek, tk, Etrek derýasy), also known as the Attruck, Atrak, and Etrek, is a fast-moving river which begins in the mountains of north-eastern Iran (), and flows westward draining into the south-eastern corner of th ...

History

The ruins of a vast fortress on the river bank are located in Magtymguly. The fortress was used as a base by the Armenian Kings

Tigranes I Tigranes I of Armenia ( hy, Տիգրան Ա, grc, Τιγράνης) was an Artaxiad king of Armenia at the end of 2nd and the beginning of 1st century BC. Few records have survived about his and his predecessor Artavasdes I's reign, which has l ...

Tigranes VI Tigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes ( el, Γαίος Ιούλιος Τιγράνης, before 25 – after 68) was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia in the 1st century. H ...

Etymology

Atanyyazow explains that Turkmen originally called the fortress, which he asserts was built here by Shah of Persia Mohammad, "Ganlygala" ("bloody fortress", from ''gan'' "blood" and ''gala'' "fortress") because of the amount of blood shed in fighting over it. At the end of the 19th century, under Russian influence the settlement was called Aleksandrov, but in the Soviet period it was renamed Garrygala in Turkmen (russian: Кара Кала). Following Turkmenistan's independence, on 4 June 2004, by Presidential Decree No. 4066, Garrygala city and district were renamed in honor of

Magtymguly Pyragy Magtymguly Pyragy ( fa, ''Makhdumqoli Farāghi''; tk, Magtymguly Pyragy; ; tr, Mahtumkulu Firaki; , born Magtymguly, was a Turkmen spiritual leader, philosophical poet, Sufi and traveller who is considered to be the most famous figure in ...

Attractions

The town is filled with monuments in memory of

; however, it is not prominent in the tourism circuit. West of the town lies the head office of

Sünt-Hasardag Nature Reserve Sünt-Hasardag Nature Reserve is a nature reserve (''zapovednik'') of Turkmenistan. Established in 1977 for the protection of indigenous flora and fauna, it is located in south-western part of the Kopetdag Range in Balkan Province Balkan R ...

Plant Research Station

Set up in 1925 by

Nikolai Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov ( rus, Никола́й Ива́нович Вави́лов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ vɐˈvʲiləf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Ivanovich_Vavilov.ogg; – 26 January 1943) was a Russian and Soviet agronomist, botanist a ...

as the southernmost station of the

Institute of Plant Industry The Institute of Plant Industry, Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry or All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Industry (in russian: Всероссийский институт растениеводства им. Н. И. Вавилова), as ...

, a research station here was tasked with the trial introduction of a rubber plant collected from Mexico. Soon the Soviet Union shifted to synthetic rubber, and the station re-focused on indigenous flora and fauna. Visiting in 2004,

Paul Brummell Paul Brummell (born 28 August 1965) is a British diplomat and travel writer. Early life Brummell was educated at St Albans School before reading geography at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ...

observed that the institute, which was under authority of the Turkmen Ministry of Agriculture, engaged in little scientific work and was mostly concerned with "selling saplings and fruit jam."

Shibly Baba Maousoleum

Several miles from the eastern outskirts of the town lies the tomb of Shibli Baba as part of a sacred complex. The mausoleum was lengthened and re-constructed in the Soviet era after locals dreamed of Baba being cramped. Shibli Baba, who hailed from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, is held to be the patron saint of the insane. Spending a night over his tomb supposedly cures one of all mental disorders. He is also associated with protection from thunder and fires;

observed linkages with a fertility cult. A twin-trunked tree on the periphery is revered, for it reportedly does not allow sinners to pass between its trunks.

Notes

References

Populated places in Balkan Region {{Cities of Turkmenistan