Tuesday 21 June 2011

Turkmenistan, Greater Kyz Kala


Merv is the old name of an oasis city on the Silk Road in Asia.  It's now known as Mary and is the fourth biggest city in Turkmenistan.  Nearby is Greater Kyz Kala, a rectangular castle with corrugated sides, dating from the 5th to 8th centuries.

About 200 metres away is Lesser Kyz Kala.  There is a story that Greater Kyz Kala was the castle where the girls lived and Lesser Kyz Kala was where the boys lived.  If the boys wanted to marry one of the girls, they had to throw an object from their castle to the girls'.  At 200 metres or more, that was close to impossible and is said to be when the catapult was invented.  It's possible ... It could account for all those holes. :)

4 comments:

  1. What an interesting tale, Sheila!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting, Shiela! I chuckled at the thought of young boys throwing something at the girl's castle and it ended up where it's not intended to be (another girl's chamber, or worse, the grumpy elders).. boy, he's in trouble. A quick glance at the postcard made me think those were beehives. lol.
    Have a nice day, Sheila.

    Postcards Crossing

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wouldn't have guessed on my own that is a castle. I was going to guess hornet's nest, but now I see perfectly. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Really interesting facts you have here.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...