Turkmen Carpet Museum

{{Short description|National museum in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan}}

{{Infobox museum

| name = Turkmen Carpet Museum

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| coordinates = {{coord|37.923999|58.377880|display=inline,title}}

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| established = {{start date|1994|10|24|df=y}}

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| location = Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

| type = national museum

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The Turkmen Carpet Museum or the National Carpet Museum is a national museum, situated on 5 Gorogly Street in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

The museum opened on 24 October 1994.{{cite web|url=http://www.ayan-travel.com/ahal.html|title=Carpet Museum|publisher=Ayan Travel Company|access-date=May 10, 2010|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707202147/http://www.ayan-travel.com/ahal.html|archive-date=July 7, 2011}} It has the largest collection of Turkmen carpets of any museum.{{cite web|url=http://www.turkmenistanembassy.org/turkmen/travel/museum.html|title=Museums and Tourist Attractions in Turkmenistan|publisher=Embassy of Turkmenistan, Washington, D.C., United States|access-date=May 13, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20061009074127/http://www.turkmenistanembassy.org/turkmen/travel/museum.html|archive-date=October 9, 2006}}

It has a rich collection of Turkmen carpets from the medieval through to the 20th century,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j894miuOqc4C&q=Turkmen+Carpet+Museum&pg=PA689|title=World and Its Peoples: The Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|page=689|date=2006|isbn=0-7614-7571-0}} including over 1000 carpets from the 18th and 19th centuries.{{cite book|author=Hiro, Dilip|title=Inside Central Asia: A Political and Cultural History of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Iran|publisher=Overlook Duckworth|date=2009|page=196}}{{cite book|title=Peoples of Western Asia|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|date=2006|isbn=0-7614-7677-6|page=522|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/peoplesofwestern0000unse}} Aside from its extensive collection of antique carpets, it has many carpet articles, chuvals, khurjuns, torba etc.{{cite web|url=http://www.odyssei.com/travel-tips/4629.html|title=Ashghabat - Carpet Museum, Turkmenistan|publisher=Odyssei Travel Community, National Geographic Polska|access-date=May 13, 2010}}

On the first floor of the museum are Tekke and Sarik carpets. The museum is noted for its huge Tekke carpets. One Tekke carpet measures 193m² and weighs a tonne and was made by some 40 people in 1941 to make a curtain for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.{{cite book|author=Brummel, Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fG9zk5Y3MugC&q=Turkmen+Carpet+Museum&pg=PA91 |title=Turkmenistan |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|date=2006|page=91|isbn=1-84162-144-7}} Another, made in 2001, is even larger, measuring 301m² and 14 by 21.2 metres and was made to commemorate 10 years of Turkmen independence from the Soviet Union.{{cite book|author=Mayhew, Bradley|title=Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan|publisher=Lonely Planet Central Asia|date=2007|page=401|isbn=978-1-74104-614-4}} It is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the largest hand-woven carpet in the world. One carpet, made in 1968, is representative of all the tribes in Turkmenistan, fusing together the different styles to display unity. The museum also has carpets dedicated to President Niyazov. Some of the carpets on display are two-sided, often featuring different design on each side.[http://www.turkmenistan.orexca.com/carpet_museum.shtml Carpet Museum], Oriental Express Central Asia