Museum sights in Ulaanbaatar
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Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts
The Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts has a superb collection of paintings, carvings and sculptures, including many by the revered sculptor and artist Zanabazar. It also contains other rare, and sometimes old, religious exhibits such as scroll thangka(paintings) and Buddhist statues, representing the best display of its kind in Mongolia. A bonus is that most of the exhibit captions in the museum are in English.
The second room contains some fine examples of the sculptor's work including five Dhyani, or Contemplation, Buddhas (cast in 1683) and Tara in her 21 manifestations.
Also worth checking out are the wonderful tsam masks (worn by monks during religious ceremonies) and the…
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National Museum of Mongolian History
Still sometimes referred to by its previous name, the Revolutionary Museum, the National Museum of Mongolian History is an Ulaanbaatar highlight.
The recently renovated 1st floor has some interesting exhibits on Stone Age sites in Mongolia (dating back 700,000 years), as well as petroglyphs, deer stones (stone sculptures of reindeer and other animals) and burial sites from the Hun and Uighur eras.
The 2nd floor houses an outstanding collection of costumes, hats and jewellery, representing most of Mongolia's ethnic groups. Take a gander as some of the elaborate silverwork of the Dariganga minority or the outrageous headgear worn by Khalkh Mongols. Some of the outfits conta…
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Winter Palace of Bogd Khan
Built between 1893 and 1903, this palace is the place where Mongolia's eighth Living Buddha, and last king, Jebtzun Damba Hutagt VIII (often called the Bogd Khan), lived for 20 years. For reasons that are unclear, the palace was spared destruction by the Russians and turned into a museum. The summer palace, on the banks of Tuul Gol, was completely destroyed.
There are six temples in the grounds. The white building to the right as you enter is the Winter Palace itself. It contains a collection of gifts received from foreign dignitaries, such as a pair of golden boots from a Russian tsar, a robe made from 80 unfortunate foxes and a ger lined with the skins of 150 snow leopa…
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Museum of Natural History
The Museum of Natural History is a serious throwback to the Soviet era. It has exhibits featuring Mongolia's geography, flora and fauna, including the requisite section with stuffed and embalmed animals, birds and even fish. The general impression, however, is that you've stumbled into the warehouse of a long-deceased taxidermist, rather than into a serious scientific exhibition. Some of the animals have been fixed with puzzling expressions, as if they remain perplexed as to how they ended up in such an unfortunate state. In any case, budding geologists may appreciate the generally stoic meteorites.
The most impressive section is the Palaeontology Hall and its array of co…
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Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum
The little-known Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum consists of a series of haunting displays chronicling the bloody communist purges of the 1930s - an aggressive campaign to eliminate 'counter-revolutionaries'. During the campaign, intellectuals were arrested and put on trial, sent to Siberian labour camps or shot. Mongolia lost top writers, scientists and thinkers. One hall reveals this tragedy most vividly with a display of human skulls pierced with bullet holes.
The museum was inspired by the deeds of former prime minister P Genden, who was executed in Moscow by the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB; Committee for State Security) in 1937 for refu…
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Ulaanbaatar City Museum
The Ulaanbaatar City Museum offers a brief but insightful view of Ulaanbaatar's history through old maps and photos. The most interesting item is a huge painting of the capital as it looked in 1912, in which you can clearly make out major landmarks such as Gandan Khiid and the Winter Palace of Bogd Khan.
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International Intellectual Museum
The International Intellectual Museum, also known as the Mongolian Toy Museum, is in a pink building behind the round 'East Centre'. It has a collection of puzzles and games made by local artists. One puzzle requires 56,831 movements to complete, says curator Zandraa Tumen-Ulzii.
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Theatre Museum
The Theatre Museum is worthwhile if you're interested in the dramatic arts - the collection of puppets is wonderful. The museum is on the 3rd floor of the Palace of Culture (its entrance is on the northern side of building).
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Museum of the General Intelligence Agency
The Museum of the General Intelligence Agency is dedicated to the Mongolian version of the KGB and the spy game dating back to the Chinggis Khaan era. The curators are retired secret service agents and will provide colourful insight on some of the photographs (all captions are in Mongolian). To get there, walk behind the National Museum and down a narrow alley heading west. It's on the left side of the alley. If the museum is locked, try ringing or ask at the front desk of the General Intelligence Agency (GIA) headquarters on Juulchin Gudamj.
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Hunting Museum
The Hunting Museum, on the 2nd floor of the Baigal Ordon (Nature Palace) on the street leading to Gandan Khiid, shows off centuries-old trapping and hunting techniques that are used by both nomads and urban cowboys. It's usually locked so ask for the key from the ladies running the hotel downstairs.
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Railway Museum
The Railway Museum is great for kids and railway buffs. It is about 400m northeast of the station. Other train-spotting options include the old train engines parked in front of the Jiguur Grand hotel.
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