Wender·Vista
Konye-Urgench
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkmenistan
on the lower Amu Darya, in northern Turkmenistan

Konye-Urgench

— — a minaret the Mongols left standing.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The ruined capital of Khwarezm, raised on a bend of the Amu Darya and twice flattened: by Genghis Khan in 1221, by Tamerlane in 1388. The Kutlug-Timur Minaret still stands, leaning slightly, the tallest medieval brick column in Central Asia. Around it, a quiet plain of mausoleums where pilgrims still come on foot from Daşoguz and the villages south of the border.

from the studio
Konye-Urgench
— bring it home

Konye-Urgench, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Konye-Urgench

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Konye-Urgench sits in the Daşoguz Province of northern Turkmenistan, on the lower Amu Darya near the Uzbek border. From the eleventh through early thirteenth centuries it was the capital of the Khwarezmian Empire and one of the great trade cities on the northern Silk Road. Mongol armies under Genghis Khan razed it in 1221; Tamerlane finished the job in 1388. The Amu Darya then shifted its course, and the city was never rebuilt. UNESCO inscribed the surviving monuments as a World Heritage Site in 2005.

— the stone

What remains is brick: clay shaped and hardened into minarets, mausoleums, and a single surviving caravanserai gate. The Kutlug-Timur Minaret rises about sixty metres, the tallest medieval brick column in Central Asia, its tile bands faded but still readable. The Tyurabek-Khanym mausoleum carries one of the finest surviving fourteenth-century turquoise domes in the Islamic world, its star-pattern still legible from inside. The Il-Arslan and Sultan Tekesh tombs sit nearby, smaller and older, their conical roofs weathered to the colour of the surrounding plain.

— informed by UNESCO — Kunya-Urgench
— the visit

The site lies just outside the modern town of Köneürgenç, about a hundred kilometres north of Daşoguz and a four-hour drive from Khiva across the Uzbek border. Foreign visitors need a Turkmen visa and, usually, a registered guide; independent travel inside the country remains restricted. The monuments stand on open ground without fencing, and pilgrims and locals walk among them most Fridays. A small site museum opens daily except Monday. Late September through early November offers the easiest light and the coolest air for walking the plain.

— informed by UNESCO — Kunya-Urgench
— where
Turkmenistan · Köneürgenç District, Daşoguz Province
— position
42.3417° N · 59.1469° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Kutlug-Timur Minaret
medieval minaret
at the lake
Tyurabek-Khanym Mausoleum
domed mausoleum
100 km S
Daşoguz
provincial capital
150 km E
Khiva
Uzbek walled city
N
Konye-Urgench
Kutlug-Timur Minaret
Tyurabek-Khanym Mausoleum
Daşoguz
Khiva
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Konye-Urgench — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

A UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Turkmenistan, on the ruins of Urgench, the medieval capital of the Khwarezmian Empire and one of the great trade cities along the northern Silk Road.

It dates to the early fourteenth century, raised around 1320 to 1330 under the Mongol Golden Horde, and remains the tallest medieval brick column in Central Asia at roughly sixty metres tall.

Genghis Khan's army destroyed the city in 1221, Tamerlane sacked it again in 1388, and the Amu Darya later shifted its course away from the site. It was never rebuilt as a working capital.

The site lies about a hundred kilometres north of Daşoguz in Turkmenistan, roughly a four-hour drive from Khiva in Uzbekistan. Foreign visitors generally require a Turkmen visa and a registered local guide.

UNESCO inscribed the monuments of Konye-Urgench in 2005, recognising their place as a key surviving record of Khwarezmian and early Islamic architecture in Central Asia and the wider Silk Road.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for that recipient. Konye-Urgench is one of the few intact survivals of the Khwarezmian capital; a Medium with a handwritten studio note lands warmly with travellers who have walked the plain.

The brick-and-turquoise palette reads well in jewel-tone maximalist rooms, in warm earthen interiors, and against the saturated ochres of Persian and Bukharan textile traditions. It also anchors a quiet plaster wall.

Yes. Designers leaning on saturated turquoise and aged brick increasingly use a single grounded landscape piece as the room's quiet centre; the Konye-Urgench tile holds that role without competing with patterned textiles.

A single Large reads cleanly above a console. Above a sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the wall; for an entry hall or stairway, a nine-tile Mural extends the minaret across the field of view.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for steam-prone walls; both resist scratching and hold the brick tones without glare from overhead lights or sconces above a vanity.

Soft microfibre cloth with plain water. Avoid abrasive pads and ammonia cleaners; the colour lives in the ceramic surface, and the finish lasts longest when treated lightly and dried with a clean cloth.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in our Knoxville, Tennessee studio under Reid Wender's eye. The artwork is ours alone, and nothing on the wall is licensed or resold.

— if this one stayed with you

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