The town was called Gurgandzh from the 10th century AD onwards and is now called Konye Urgench (Old Urgench), as the inhabitants moved to modern Urgench in Uzbekistan in the 17th century.
Konye Urgench was built on the crossing of two major caravan routes from the South to the Volga in the Northwest and from the West to China in the East. From the 1st century AD onwards Konye Urgench was an important trade center on the Northern Silk Road leading to the Caspian Sea and Russia. Around 1000 Emir Mamun unified the country of Khwarezm and made Konye Urgench its capital. In the 10th cent. Urgench was the capital of the powerful Khwarezm state which occupied the whole area of the Amu Darya delta in Northern Turkemnistan and Western Uzbekistan.
Konye Urgench became one of the centers of the Islamic world and was called "the heart of Islam" and "the capital of thousand wise men". Great scholars as Al Biruni (Abu Reikhan Biruni) and Avicenna (Abu Ali Ibn Sina) lived here. After its conquest by the Mongols in the 13th century, the city became an important trade center again. The famous Arabic traveller Ibn Batuta described Konye Urgench as the 'biggest among the Turkish cities with broad streets and splendid bazaars'. The main part of the magnificient monuments in Konye Urgench were built during the reign of Kutlug Timur and his wife Tyurabek-khanym. In the 14th century the city was destroyed by the troups of Timur .
Konye Urgench was declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
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