Meana Baba Mausoleum - Turkemenistan

 The second card Claus sent me is this one with the Meana Baba Mausoleum, located in Kaahka district.

 

This mausoleum is
 a sacred site linked to one of the most influential Sufi mystics of the Islamic world:
 Abu Sa‘id ibn Abi’l-Khayr al-Mayhani (967–1049 CE). 
Born in the town of Mayhana — now Meana —
he became known here as Meane Baba, the “Father of Meana.”
The mausoleum, built in the 11th century,
 still holds the atmosphere of devotion — with its rare double dome, colorful ornament, and traces of ancient calligraphy.
 - in: https://ayan-turkmenistan.travel

 

Kunya-Urgench - Turkemenistan

Kunya Urgench is a UNESCO site in north-western Turkmenistan, on the list since 2005. I got my 1st card from there back in 2009, when Claus sent it on behalf of Wendy, I postcrosser from Jamaica I used to talk with. It was a wonderful surprise, and now, all these years later, he sent 2 other cards that I had in ma favorites wall. 

On the 1st card we can see  the Mausoleum of Tyurabek Khanym and on the second the Mausoleum of  Sultan Tekesh. 

 

Urgench was the capital of the Khorezm region, part of the Achaemenid Empire. The old town contains a series of monuments mainly from the 11th to 16th centuries, including a mosque, the gates of a caravanserai, fortresses, mausoleums and a 60-m high minaret. The monuments testify to outstanding achievements in architecture and craftsmanship whose influence reached Iran and Afghanistan, and later the architecture of the Mogul Empire of 16th-century India. - in: https://whc.unesco.org

Tyurabek-khanym was a real historic figure, a Mongolian princess, the favorite daughter of the governor of Golden Horde - Uzbek-khan and the spouse of his deputy in Khoresm Kutlug Timur . Tyurabek - khanym was the patroness of women. Eventually she was canonized and declared a saint.
The Tyurabek Khanum Mausoleum is the largest and most impressive of the surviving monuments at Kunye Urgench. It is widely recognized as one of the earliest and finest monuments to make extensive use of mosaic faience, or multi-colored ceramic tiles, most notably in its inner dome which depicts an arrestingly detailed conception of the heavens. Though the site is traditionally believed to be the final resting place of Tyurabek Khanum, the wife of Qutlugh Timur—who ruled Khorezm between 1321 and 1336 on behalf of the Golden Horde—the monument may actually date to the reign of Timur (Tamerlane, r. 1370 to 1405), or even somewhat later. - in: https://www.orientalarchitecture.com

 

 The Sultan Tekesh Mausoleum stands as one of the few surviving monuments from pre-Mongol Urgench. Alongside the Il-Arslan Mausoleum, it forms part of a necropolis dedicated to one of the ruling Khwarezmian dynasties.

Constructed for the Khwarezmshah Tekesh, who passed away in 1200, this mausoleum epitomized the grandeur and detailed craftsmanship expected of royal tombs. The structure reaches a height of 30 meters, with its architectural significance highlighted by its roof, adorned with blue tiles inscribed with verses from the Quran, and its tower, which features 24 compartments.
During his reign, Tekesh not only preserved the boundaries of his state but also expanded them, uniting a vast expanse from the Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and from the Pamirs in the east to the Iranian Plateau in the west. He was known for constructing mosques and schools and for his patronage of scholars and poets. 

The Tekesh Mausoleum once dominated the skyline of Urgench, serving as a beacon in the desert. Exhausted travelers would catch sight of it from afar, signaling the nearing end of their arduous journey. - in: https://eurasia.travel

Old Nisa - Turkemenistan

This is not exactly a beautiful card but when it comes to cards from missing UNESCO sites, i'm not very picky. These are fragments of architectural décor of the Red Building, one of the two buildings in the main central complex of the city's citadel. 

The card was sent by Emerich. 

Nisa (also Parthaunisa) was an ancient city, located near modern-day Bagir village, 18 km southwest of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. 

Nisa is one of the most important sites of the Parthian Empire. The Parthians ruled in Persia from 247 BC to 228 AD. They defeated the Seleucids (successors of Alexander the Great) and conquered great parts of the Middle East and southwest Asia. 

The earliest settlements in the area of Nissa date back to the 4th millenium BC. In the 3rd century BC the Parthians built an impressive fortress at Old Nisa and erected a royal residence, which probably was the first royal residence of the Parthian kings. The city was named Mithradatkert (fortress of Mithradates) during the reign of King Mithradates the Great (174-138 BC). Greek sources refer to the city as administrative and economic centre during the reign of the Arsacid dynasty. The Arsacid dynasty conquered a huge area from the Indus to the Euphrates and Nisa became an important city on the crossroads of many cultures from Persia, Greece and Central Asia. 

New Nisa was conquered by the Arabian Caliphate in the 7th century and became part of the Seljuk Empire in the 11th century. 

Archaeological research at the site began in the 1930s. Since 1990 it is excavated by the University of Torino, Italy (Centro Scavi di Torino). In 2007, the fortresses of Nissa were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. - in: wikitravel

Kyz-Kala - Turkemenistan

Claus once sent me a Turkemenistan's unesco card, that was good enough for me. Now he

surprised me even more sending another unesco card from Turkemenistan, but this time written and stamped from there :D

The card shows the Greater Kyz-Kala, included on the site "State Historical and Cultural Park Ancient Merv".

"The Greater Kyz.Kala is an isolated building known as koshk, which has distinctive corrugated exterior walls. The Greater Kyz Kala is rectangular in plan, with a length of 45m and width of 38m. Its corrugations are well preserved on the eastern and southern sides of the building, protected against the prevailing wind. The interior of the building preserves squinches and traces of different kinds of vaulting.

'Kyz Kala" means 'Girls' Castle': one story runs that forty girls hid in the Greater Kyz Kala at the time of the Mongol invasion. When they saw what the Mongols had done to the inhabitants of the city of Merv they committed suicide by jumping from the roof. Another local tale identifies the Greater Kyz Kala as the castle for the girls; its smaller neighbour as the boys' castle. It is said that young men wishing 10 marry the girl of their dreams should fire a projectile from the southern castle, to land in the northern one. Given the distance between the two, there are presumably many local bachelors.
The buildings were elite rural residences, and probably date from the 8th or 9th centuries. There remains much debate about the purpose of their distinctive corrugations: theories include helping to keep the interiors cool, ensuring the rapid run-off of potentially destructive rainwater, and simple decoration.

Nobody seems to know for certain why these walls are 'corrugated' in this way. Was it a system of drainage - was it purely decorative? Kyz-kala is one of the most intact ruins in Merv. It's hard to believe that at the height of its fame in the 10-11th century, this pile of ruined brick walls rivaled the great Islamic centers of learning such as Baghdad and Cairo." -in: http://turkmen.traveler.uz/component/content/article/44-turkmen-monuments/210-Kyz-Kala