Great Kyz Kala

About this place

Great Kyz Kala is an old earthen palace outside the western wall of Seljuk Merv and the most striking sight at Ancient Merv. Its name means «maiden's fortress» in Turkmen. What sets it apart are its walls with deep vertical ribs, which from afar look like a row of tightly packed columns, and little else in Central Asia resembles it. It belongs to a type of building called a köşk, the fortified houses built at Merv, and it is described as the largest and best preserved of the Abbasid examples. It had 17 rooms around a central courtyard, with the roof often used for living quarters. Beside it is Lesser Kyz Kala, with very thick walls and inner stairs leading to a second storey. You stand before a long sand-coloured earth wall made of tall ribs in sequence, above a broad sloping base. On the front part of the building has collapsed, so you see the gap and the empty space that was a courtyard, which shows how thick the walls are. From Lesser Kyz Kala it looks small on the plain, among shrubs and bare ground. It is about 1.5 km from the Sultan Sanjar Mausoleum in a straight line. The structure is fragile, as these houses are described as being in a precarious state, so do not climb the walls and keep to the fence and paths. The best photo comes in morning or late-day light, when shadows stand out between the ribs. There is no shade, so bring a hat.