Toprak-Kala: The Royal Residence of Chorasmia

Toprak-Kala was an ancient palace city and the capital of Chorasmia in the 2nd/3rd century CE that functioned as a royal residence. Toprak-Kala, whose name translates as "Sand Fortress" or "Earthen Fortress," is a significant stop along the Ellik Kala (Fifty Fortresses) cluster, better known as the Golden Ring of Ancient Khorezm.

Historical Discovery

The monument, like many other monuments of the ancient Khorezm civilization, was discovered by an outstanding archaeologist and historian Sergei Pavlovich Tolstov. It happened in 1938 during exploration work. The area of the settlement is 120 hectares and, as it turns out later, there was once a full-fledged city and a magnificent castle-palace built 20 meters above ground level, surrounded by an imposing defensive wall and square towers.

The Magnificent Palace

The palace deserves special attention. It will not be difficult to imagine how majestic and luxurious it was, because its height could reach 40 meters and consisted of a palace with 150 rooms decorated with sculptures and paintings. During the excavations, scientists noted an interesting detail of Toprak-Kala: art paintings in the Hellenistic style were used to decorate the premises of not only the palace, but also the houses of ordinary townspeople, which speaks of the high culture of the ancient city.

Archaeological Treasures

The castle consisted of three floors. A huge number of relics were found in his rooms: from food remains (bones, seeds) to fragments and whole parts of vessels, various dishes, decorations, sculptures (one of the most famous sculptures is the Statue of the Priest), paintings and even ancient Khorezmian texts. These discoveries paint a vivid picture of life in this sophisticated ancient metropolis.