Ashgabat

Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, is one of the most architecturally singular cities in the world, rebuilt after a devastating 1948 earthquake and transformed since independence into a showcase of white marble buildings, gold-domed presidential palaces, and colossal monumental structures. The city holds a Guinness World Record for the highest density of white marble-clad buildings, and its monuments include an enormous revolving golden statue of the first president and the Turkmenbashi World of Fairy Tales amusement park. The contrast between Soviet infrastructure and the new ceremonial core makes for a genuinely unusual urban landscape.