Slideshow  Google Map  Timeline  Timemap  Comments (0)

Karakorum sits near the Orkhon River, an 8 hour drive SW of Ulaanbaatar. In 1220, Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol empire, established his residence there. As capital of the Mongols , Karakorum was visited (c.1247) by a papal mission under Giovanni Carpini. The city was abandoned after 1267 when Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, transferred the Mongol capital to Khanbaliq, modern Beijing. The city was sacked by avenging troops of the Ming Dynasty after the fall of the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty. The noted Lamaist monastery of Erden Zuu was built near Karakorum in 1586 partly from rubble of the old city.

Related Items:

Zanabazar 1635-1723 扎納巴扎爾

Erdene Zuu Khiid 額爾德尼召廟

Shankh Khiid 蒙古寺廟

Mongolia Měnggǔ 蒙古