Mary Province is in the southeast of Turkmenistan.

Cities

• 1 Bayramaly — a decent sized city on a dry oasis serving as a natural dry climactic spa.
• 2 Mary — the major regional city and large industrial center serving as the main tourist base for Merv and other nearby archaeological sites.
• 3 Yoloten — an oil town.

Other destinations

• 1 Gonur Depe — an archaeological site on an ancient Indo-Iranian settlement, some 4,000 years old.
• 2 Merv — this UNESCO World Heritage site was one of the principal Silk Road oasis-cities throughout its inhabited history, and one-time largest city in the world.

Understand

The province is in the south-east of the country and borders Afghanistan to the south-east and south. The Murgab River flows through the south of the province, which seeps into the Karakum desert, and the Karakum Canal also crosses the province.

The province has an area of 87,150 km² and a population of around 1,480,000 in 2005.

Mary is the provincial capital, which is not far from the well-known ancient city of Merv. Other larger towns are Baýramaly and Ýolöten. In addition to the ruins of Merv, there are also traces of a Buddhist settlement in the region of touristic and historical importance, including in Gonur Depe and Ýekedeşik.

Get in

By plane

Turkmenistan Airlines offers flights from Ashgabat (2 flights per day) and Dashoguz (1 flight per day on Thursday).

See

Gonur Depe is an archaeological site, home to elaborate palaces, temples, and tombs, from the Bronze Age. Merv is another historic site, but is a UNESCO World Heritage Site near present-day Mary, which contain well-preserved ruins that showcase the rich history of the Silk Road era.