Magtymguly (city)

Magtymguly (formerly Garrygala, Kara-Kala, ) is a city (Turkmen: şäher) in far south-western Turkmenistan in Balkan Province. It lies west of Aydere and is the administrative capital of Magtymguly District. In 1972 it had a population of 5700 inhabitants, rising to 8412 in 1989. It is located in the foothills of the Kopet Dag mountain range, and it lies on the Sumbar River, a tributary of the Atrek River.
The ruins of a vast fortress on the river bank are located in Magtymguly. The fortress was used as a base by the Armenian Kings Tigranes I to Tigranes VI. A small museum devoted to the poet Magtymguly Pyragy is located in Magtymguly.
Etymology.
Atanyyazow explains that Turkmen originally called the fortress, which he asserts was built here by Shah of Persia Mohammad, "Ganlygala" ("bloody fortress", from "gan" "blood" and "gala" "fortress") because of the amount of blood shed in fighting over it. At the end of the 19th century, under Russian influence the settlement was called Aleksandrov, but in the Soviet period it was renamed Garrygala in Turkmen (). Following Turkmenistan's independence, on 4 June 2004, by Presidential Decree No. 4066, Garrygala city and district were renamed in honor of Magtymguly Pyragy.