Located in the remote northern deserts of Turkmenistan, Konye Urgench was the capital of the state of Khorezm. This ancient land encompassed the whole Amu Darya delta in northern Turkmenistan, western Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan.

Part of the Persian Empire in the 6th century BC, Khorezm later flourished as Silk Road trade grew on the caravan routes. By the 10th century AD, Konye Urgench was a centre of learning and a cosmopolitan city where the arts and science blossomed.

In 1219 the Khorezm Shah, Mahmoud II committed a grave mistake. He ordered that a camel caravan sent by Ghengis Khan, numbering 500 men, be murdered in the Khorezmian town of Otrar. The wrath of Ghengis Khan fell upon Khorezm, its towns were destroyed and the governor of Otrar had molten silver poured into his eyes.

By the middle of the 14th century, Konye Urgench had risen from the ashes and become great once again. However in 1379 the city was attacked by Tamerlaine and it never really recovered. When the Amu Darya River changed its course, the capital of Khorezm was moved to Khiva in present day Uzbekistan.

On the scorched desert plain, one can still enter into the ancient world of the Silk Road and see the remains of this once important city. Visit Central Asia’s tallest minaret, measuring 62 metres in height and the Turabeg Khanum Mausoleum, built in 1370 and one of Central Asia’s most splendid buildings. See the Tash Kala Caravanserai, the Ak Kala Fortess and the holy Forty Mullahs Hill.

It s said to contain the original Mamum Academy of Science, home to Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al Biruni and was the centre of the fiercest resistance to the Mongol invasion. A terrible punishment was inflicted by the Mongols and human skull still protrude from the excavations.