MARY AND MERV, TURKMENISTAN

Our first of two stops in Turkmenistan, the fifth and final "Stan" on our itinerary, was the city of Mary. "Mary" is quite an unusual name for a city deep in Islamic territory, and as it turns out, Mary has an unusual history.

In the 11th century, one of the local tribes converted to the Eastern Christian Church. According to their tradition, Mary the Mother of Jesus is buried here. (There are several other groups that dispute this.)

Clearly, however, Islam has a strong presence here now. I wish we could have stopped to visit this beautiful building, the Gurbanguly Hajji Mosque:

Construction began in 2001 but was halted due to lack of funds. Eventually the president of Turkmenistan (more about him in a future post) donated enough money from "the President's Charity Fund" to complete construction, and in appreciation, the mosque was named for him.

The modern city of Mary is built near the ruins of the ancient city of Merv, one of the oldest oasis cities on the Silk Road and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It shimmers like a mirage on the edge of the horizon: