Nearly two thousand years ago, an empire was born here that stood on equal footing with Rome. Under King Mithridates I, the royal fortress of Mithridatkert was built on the site of Old Nisa, covering an area of around 14 hectares and ringed by 43 towers — a stronghold considered utterly impregnable for its time.
Excavations here were carried out by archaeologist Mikhail Masson between 1946 and 1960, uncovering the ruins of halls, temples and documents written in the Parthian language. The royal treasury yielded rhytons, marble sculptures and silver objects, which are now held in the State Museum of Turkmenistan.
One curious fact ties directly to the very essence of this state: in 69 BCE, the Parthian king Phraates III, together with a Roman ruler, formalised the neutral status of his country — the first documented case of its kind in world history. The fortress lies 18 kilometres west of Ashgabat, and in 2007 the ruins were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
