The archive of the Paul Nadar Photo Studio is one of the main assets of the French Mediatheque of Architecture and Cultural Heritage. The photographer has always been attracted by the rich historical and cultural heritage of Turkmenistan. In 1890, boarding the famous Orient Express in Paris, Nadar traveled to Tashkent, capturing the beauties of Istanbul, Tiflis, Baku and the cities of Turkmenistan along the way. The photographer was most impressed by Merv, where Nadar arrived by train in the fall of 1890. The photographer captured many buildings and structures of the city in the pictures.

The result of the trip was a collection consisting of more than a thousand photographs, combining the curiosity and skill of the man who was the first to present in the West previously inaccessible images of the mysterious East.

Today, the collection, kept in Paris, travels along the route of its creator. Until February 15, visitors to the National Museum of Art in Baku admired Nadar's masterpieces. And more recently, the archive was replenished with new photographs, which depict Paul Nadar himself. The photos were taken near the fortress of Abdullakhan-Kala, one of the first buildings on the territory of New Merv, completed in record time for the XIV-XV centuries.

Another confirmation of the interest in the historical and cultural heritage of Turkmenistan in France was the agreement to hold an exhibition of museum values of Turkmenistan in the Louvre, the most popular museum in the world.