This was the name of a blooming oasis located in the ancient delta of the Murghab River in antique times, which amazed travellers with its fertility and developed culture.
From time immemorial, the centre of that region blessed by all the gods was Merv. In that multifaceted and multi-tribal trade centre, located at the crossroads, artistic styles, cultures and cults of the East and the West developed interpenetrating with each other. And various religious beliefs were intertwined into the complex picture of confessional history – Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Manichaeism and Buddhism, which made the spiritual atmosphere of this ancient centre of world civilisation absolutely unique. A Buddhist stupa, a temple of the “great sacred fire” and an oval Christian monastery built almost nearby testify to the atmosphere of great religious tolerance.
