Renowned for its massive scale and 15m tall corrugated walls, which tower over visitors, the Great Kyz Kala is not only the largest and best preserved example of this unique building type to survive into the modern era, it is also one of the largest mudbrick buildings standing anywhere in …

The Great Kyz Kala - one of the impressive medieval earthen buildings of the Merv Oasis that are currently being documented, researched and conserved. A Short History of Merv. Merv lies on one of the main arms of the ancient Silk Roads that connected Europe and Africa to the Far East.

This project aims to better understand the monuments by collating and building upon ongoing research on the Great Kyz Kala (and its smaller neighbour the Lesser Kyz Kala) which includes excavation data, remedial conservation and comparative architectural studies.

The Great Kyz Kala (Figure 1) at Merv is one of the most iconic monuments of Turkmenistan and perhaps of all Central Asia. It is the largest surviving monumental köshk: complexes of substantial earthen buildings, usually constructed on raised platforms, with vertical engaged columns forming ‘corruga-tions’ on the exterior walls. The buildings

Specialist mudbrick building conservators from CRATerre-ENSAG, Grenoble began work on the southern face of the Great Kyz Kala in May 2015. This preventative conservation work aims to stabilise the monument and protect it from further deterioration.

The Great Kyz Kala at Merv is one of the most iconic monuments of Turkmenistan and Central Asia. It is the largest surviving monumental köshk: complexes of substantial earthen buildings, usually constructed on raised platforms, with vertical engaged columns forming ‘corrugations’ on the exterior walls.

The Great Kyz Kala at Merv is one of the most iconic monuments of Turkmenistan and Central Asia. It is the largest surviving monumental köshk: complexes of substantial earthen buildings, usually constructed on raised platforms, with vertical engaged columns forming ‘corrugations’ on the exterior walls.

The map below shows the same exact locations on an annotated IKONOS sattelite image of the ancient city of Sultan Kala, that highlights the two study areas of this project. Great Kyz Kala back to the list

The architecture and archaeology preserved in the Park is of international importance, partly due to the preservation of standing structures, such as the corrugated Kyz Kalas and the spectacular icehouses, and also because of the excellent preservation of over 1,000 hectares of buried archaeological deposits.

A view of the medieval Great Kyz Kala at Merv. This is the most impressive of the surviving k öshks (defended houses) at the site, the massive corrugated mudbrick walls of which stand 12m high upon 4m-high platforms, making them the most striking and unusual buildings to have survived at ancient Merv. Note the eroding foundations of the walls.