Turkmen Carpet Museum

The carpet museum in Ashgabat holds more than 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.

Background

Also called the National Carpet Museum, it opened on 24 October 1994 at 5 Görogly Street, and no other museum holds as many Turkmen carpets. The pieces run from the medieval period to the 20th century, with over 1000 from the 18th and 19th centuries, plus other carpet articles such as chuvals, khurjuns and torba. Teke and Saryk carpets fill the first floor. One Tekke carpet of 193m², weighing a tonne, was made in 1941 by some 40 people as a curtain for Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. The 2001 record carpet measures 301m², or 14 by 21.2 metres. A 1968 carpet combines the styles of all the tribes in Turkmenistan, and some pieces are two-sided.

Source: Wikipedia, "Turkmen Carpet Museum"

What to look for

• 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.

Good to know

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.

Key facts