Rising above the white mass of buildings, a statue of a horse stands over 40 metres tall. It marks the Olympic Stadium built for the 2017 Asian Games. 

In 2013, Ashgabat was entered into the Guinness Book of Records as the city with the largest number of white marble buildings in the world, totalling 543 structures with a combined surface area of 4,514 million square metres.

This is the result of the vision of its two successive presidents, Saparmurat Niyazov (who died in 2006) and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. The latter also wrote a book entitled ‘Ashgabat, the White City’ to mark the 140th anniversary of the city’s founding.

Credit: Cornelia Steinigen (Germany)

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Spectators are waiting for the doors of the Astana Opera House to open. The building’s strict symmetry contrasts with the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

Credits : Simone Bergonzi (Italy, @simobergz)

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View of the barren and imposing foothills of the Kopet Dag Mountains, in Turkmenistan, which rise south of the capital and form the natural border with Iran.

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

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A woman walks through the mountains of Tajikistan, a book clutched tightly in her hand. An ordinary, everyday scene, set against the backdrop of the arid landscapes of the Central Asian highlands.

Credits: Sascha Ronneburger (Germany)

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A daily stroll through the narrow streets of Bukhara, in Uzbekistan. In the 10th century, when the city had already been inhabited for centuries, these very streets were home to some of history’s greatest figures: the physician and philosopher Avicenna, the poet Rudaki, the scholar Al-Biruni…

Photo credits: Étienne de Vaumas (France)

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Timur’s mausoleum in Samarkand, the Gur-e Amir, is an architectural marvel dating from 1403 which is said to have inspired the Taj Mahal (1631) in Agra and the St Petersburg Mosque, Russia (1910). It could be a symbol of the much-discussed and much-commented-on concept of the Silk Road.

Credits: Salomé Aldeguer-Roure (France)

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In the Aktaou region, camels come to drink as the sun sets. In the faint glow, their bodies and humps blend together.

Credits: Tolgahan Biskin (France, @tolgahan.iso)

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Whilst the World Nomad Games enliven the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, the days pass in peace and tranquillity on the shores of Lake Song-Köl.

Credits : Simone Bergonzi (Italy, @simobergz)

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An autumn scene in an old Soviet neighborhood in the city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. As is the case throughout the city, the streets of this neighborhood are lined with numerous Khrushchevkas. With their accompanying playgrounds, it’s very easy to get lost among these buildings and their nearly identical courtyards.

Photo credits: Hélène Garnier (France, @suneclat)

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The Ashgabat Wedding Palace opened its doors in 2011, to mark the 20th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s independence, and quickly became one of the city’s most recognisable and iconic landmarks. 
Located in the south-western part of Ashgabat, this monumental building is recognisable by its five upper storeys, comprising a glass sphere encased within six concrete and white marble Turkmen stars. Maps of Turkmenistan, crafted from titanium, adorn the sphere. Some people like to joke that it resembles a disco ball, which is fitting for this building named ‘Bagt Koshgi’ (Palace of Happiness).

The interior of the palace, decorated in the Turkmen style, comprises, in addition to administrative offices, reception rooms, wedding shops, cafés, a photography studio, a beauty salon and even a 22-room hotel where anyone can spend the night.

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

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Sunset over a Tajik village overlooking Lake Alaudin. Nestled in the heart of the Fann Mountains in southwestern Tajikistan, this lake is a popular hiking destination.

Photo: Etienne de Vaumas (France)

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Rarely has Turkmenistan better deserved its reputation as an inaccessible and strange country than in this photograph of a refreshment bar on the edge of the ‘Gate of Hell’ ( Darvaza gas crater).

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

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In Kyrgyzstan, the lush green valleys of Lake Song-Kul form the perfect setting for peaceful grazing.

Photo credits : Ilima Termirgalieva (Kyrgyzstan)

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This workshop, located at the Yangiabad flea market in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is brimming with locks and keys. The Yangiabad bazaar, teeming with all manner of goods, is known for its attractive prices and its traditional atmosphere, which remains largely untouched by tourists.

Credit: Madina A’zam (Uzbekistan @madinaazam_photography)

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Nature demonstrates its full resilience by allowing life to flourish even in its most hostile corners. This plant, whose vibrant colour is a testament to its vitality, symbolises the triumph of life in an environment as arid as Fairy Tales Canyon. The Skazka Canyon, on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.

Credits: Tolgahan Biskin (France, @tolgahan.iso)

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Close-up on the finely detailed features of the Burana Tower, an ancient minaret in Kyrgyzstan. It is one of the last remnants of Balasagun, an ancient city that was notably one of the political and economic centers of the medieval Qarakhanid dynasty (840–1212). In 1041, this dynasty split into two kingdoms, ruled by two khans: one in the east, one in the west. Bukhara was the capital of the western kingdom, while Balasagun was the residence of the eastern king. The city of Balasagun established itself as one of the centers of Turkic-Muslim culture within the dynasty, contributing to the integration of the Turkic language into the Muslim world. This status was notably reflected through works of courtly poetry (or mirrors for princes) such as The Wisdom of Royal Glory (Kutadgu Bilig), written by Yusuf Balasaghuni in the 11th century.

Credits: Tolgahan Biskin (France, @tolgahan.iso)

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Morning mist – but not just that – hangs over Almaty. In barely a quarter of a century, urban sprawl, coupled with the loss of the city’s green spaces, has created the conditions for trapping the pollution generated not only by heavy road traffic but also by coal-fired power stations.

Credits : Simone Bergonzi (Italy, @simobergz)

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In the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz special forces (spetsnaz) soldiers march in rows equipped with Russian AK-74 assault rifles.

Credits : Pierre-Armand Dussex (Suisse)

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Kok-boru carries on an ancient equestrian tradition dating back to the time of Zoroastrianism. The principle of this game, which is very popular in Central Asia and similar to the Afghan game of buzkashi, is as follows: the riders compete for the decapitated carcass of a goat, which they must wrest from their opponents before carrying it to the kazan, the opposing team’s goal.

Photograph taken in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Credits : Salomé Aldeguer-Roure (France)

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The Kutlug Timur minaret, named after a khan of the Golden Horde, towers over the site of Konye-Urgench at a height of 60 metres. 

Konye-Urgench, or Urganj, is a major historical site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the far north of Turkmenistan. 

The city reached its peak between the 10th and 14th centuries as the capital of Khwarezm. Although ravaged in 1221 by Genghis Khan during the Mongol invasion of Central Asia, it was rebuilt and quickly regained its status. However, in 1373, Tamerlane conquered Khwarezm. In 1388, he razed the city to the ground, massacred its population and destroyed the irrigation system. This event, combined with a change in the course of the Amu Darya, marked the beginning of Konye-Urgench’s decline. In the 16th century, the city was replaced by Khiva as the regional capital, and was subsequently gradually abandoned.

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

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