Nissa

The ruins of ancient and medieval town Nisa are located not very far (only 18 km) from the Ashagabat in the foothills of Kopetdag mountains in Bagir village. The Parthian Fortresses of Nisa consist of two parts Old and New Nisa, indicating the site of one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, a major power lasted almost 600 years from the mid-3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Archaeological excavations in two parts of the site have revealed richly decorated architecture, illustrative of domestic, state and religious functions. They conserve the unexcavated remains of an ancient civilization, which skilfully combined its own traditional cultural elements with those of the Hellenistic and Roman west. Situated at the crossroads of important commercial and strategic axes, this powerful empire formed a barrier to Roman expansion while serving as an important communication and trading center between the East and the West, the North and the South.