Mongolia’s
ancient capital, Kharakhorum, Chinggis Khaan’s fabled city, was
founded in 1220 in the Orkhon valley, at the crossroads of the Silk
Road. It was from there that the Mongol Empire governed, until
Khubilai Khaan moved it to Beijing. The symbolic ruins of Kharakhorum
(Harhorin), monumental walls (400 m of length) with 108 stupas,
surround the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia Erdene Zuu
Monastery, built in 1586. In 1792, it housed 62 temples and 10,000
