Turkmen Carpet Museum

The carpet museum in Ashgabat holds around a thousand pieces covering the weaving traditions of the Turkmen tribes, each with its own gül, the repeated medallion that identifies which group made a rug. The centrepiece is a single hand-woven carpet of over three hundred square metres, made in 2001 and recognised as the largest of its kind. Older pieces from the seventeenth century onwards are displayed alongside looms and dye materials.

What you actually see

• The record carpet - a single hand-woven piece of over three hundred square metres.
• The tribal güls - the medallions that identify which Turkmen group wove each rug.
• The older pieces - carpets from the seventeenth century onwards.
• The looms and dyes - the equipment and materials of the weaving process.

When to go

April to May and September to October avoid the extreme summer heat. The museum keeps daytime hours and closes some days. Photography rules change.

Honest expectations

Photography is often restricted or charged extra. Labelling is limited and largely in Turkmen and Russian. Independent visits require the visa arrangements that apply to the whole country.

Nearby

The National Museum is elsewhere in Ashgabat, and Nisa is west of the city.