Konye-Urgench

Konye-Urgench lies in northern Turkmenistan near the Uzbek border, on the ruins of Gurganj, capital of the Khwarazmian state. Its people abandoned it in the early 18th century for a new settlement, and the ruins have remained undisturbed ever since.

Its most famous monument is the 60-metre Kutlug Timur minaret, built in 1011 and one of the tallest early minarets in Central Asia, alongside the mausoleums of Turabek Khanum, the Khwarazmshah Tekesh and Najm al-Din Kubra.

The ruins were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005, and the mausoleums are still places of pilgrimage.