The article deals with the East — West opposition in the structure of the Central Asian colonial cities on the example of Ashgabat. Data on its pre-colonial history are given, little-known pages of the formation and development of a military settlement on the site of the modern capital of Turkmenistan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are highlighted. The thesis is affirmed that each Russian settlement in the native environment was a cultural enclave subject to constant pressure from the dominant autochthonous culture. Ashgabat is characterized as a typical double city with a clear division into Asian and European parts, like other cities in the Turkestan region. During a short historical period, Ashgabat has undergone a radical transformation from a small Turkmen settlement into a typical Russian-Asian city with all its negative and positive features. In just 140 years, it has evolved from a little-known settlement into the capital of an independent state that has achieved visible results on the path of decolonization.