Ashgabat - city of love
Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan has borne this name since 1881. According to archeological delta, settlements belonging to the Great Silk Road have existed on the territory of the present city since at least the end of the first millennium BC. The chronological distance between them and the present city is so great, that we are unable to speak about any town-building continuity. That connection traces back to the beginning of XIX century, when there was a Turkmen urban settlement here, called Ashgabat.
In the Turkmen folklore the name of the city is linked with the meaning “a city of love”. According to a legend, when Nisa was under the rule Nurahmed, and Anau was under the rule of Pirahmed, Allah put a veto on love. But against the interdiction, the daughter and the son of these governors fell in love to each other. Realizing the threat to their safety, they hid themselves to the desert, until at last, parched with thirst, they came to the mountain range, found a lonely spring, and ran to quench their thirst, but it suddenly had dried. The lovers went further, where they met a mountain river, but no sooner had they fallen to drink, it evaporated. Then the young man dug to reach underground springs, which made Allah angry again, and He sent Azrail, the angel-divider, to them. However, God’s envoy failed to carry out the sentence: having looked at the girl, he fell in love and forgot the mission. And then a spring of the same crystalline purity as love itself gushed out of the ground. They decided to stay here, near the wonderful spring which saved their lives; and after hearing their history other people moved here, too.
Love is not only an integral part of the name of the city, but also a feeling familiar to all generations of the citizens of Ashgabat. The present Ashgabat distinguishes itself with its own style, harmoniously combining the best traditions of its own national architecture and the achievements of the modern town-building.
