Karakorum

Rare card · No. 63435

Karakorum was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260, and later served as the capital of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the late 14th and 15th centuries. It was founded in 1220 and remained the capital until the division of the Mongol Empire, after which Dadu (present-day Beijing) became the seat of the Yuan dynasty. After the fall of the dynasty in 1368, it became the seat of fugitive Yuan princes, but probably fell into dereliction at the start of the 15th century. Its ruins lie in the northwestern corner of the Övörkhangai Province of modern-day Mongolia, near the present town of Kharkhorin and adjacent to the Erdene Zuu Monastery, which is likely the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. They are located in the upper part of the World Heritage Site Orkhon Valley.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Bernard Gagnon, CC0