Kharkhorin (Karakorum)Sights

Palace sights in Kharkhorin (Karakorum)

  1. Tumen Amgalan

    The centrepiece of the city was the Tumen Amgalan, or Palace of Worldly Peace, in the southwest corner of the city. This 2500-sq-metre complex, built in 1235, was the palace of Ögedei Khaan. The two-storey palace had a vast reception hall for receiving ambassadors, and its 64 pillars resembled the nave of a church. The walls were painted, the green-tiled floor had underfloor heating, and the Chinese-style roof was covered in green and red tiles.

    Whenever he was at court, the khaan sat on a panther skin atop a great throne, to which stairs ascended from one side and descended from the other.

    A team of German archaeologists recently uncovered the foundations of the palace, …

    reviewed