Old Nisa

Old Nisa is the royal citadel component of the Parthian Fortresses of Nisa on the edge of modern Ashgabat, near Bagyr. UNESCO identifies Old and New Nisa as the remains of one of the earliest and most important cities of the Parthian Empire, which was a major regional power from the mid-third century BCE to the third century CE.

Excavation at Old Nisa has revealed richly decorated buildings serving domestic, official and religious functions, showing how royal administration, ceremony and cult activity occupied the same fortified landscape. The architecture and finds also demonstrate interaction between Central Asian traditions and Hellenistic and Roman cultural influences.

Old Nisa is therefore included here as archaeological sacred heritage rather than as a surviving temple dedicated to a securely identified deity. Its religious importance comes from the functions documented by archaeology, while its broader significance lies in the exceptional evidence it preserves for Parthian political and cultural life.

The Parthian Fortresses of Nisa were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007. The site is protected within the State Historical and Cultural Park “Nisa”; modern devotional practices are not asserted for the archaeological remains.