Mongolia

Orkhon Valley

WHS Score 2.51 Votes 21 Average 2.9

The Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape is a tribute to Mongolia's culture of nomadic pastoralism and the way it eventually supported trade networks and empires.

The Valley’s steppe landscape has been home to a succession of nomadic cultures since Prehistory. The area includes the remains of Kharakhorum, the 13th and 14th-century capital of Chinggis Khaan's vast Mongolian Empire, Buddhist monasteries like Erdene Zuu where Mongolia’s form of Buddhism developed, and Khar Balgas, a former capital of the Uighur Empire.

Community Perspective: probably more memorable for its landscape dotted with “gers (yurts) and the herds of horses, yak and camels of nomad families” than its archeological remains. The restored Erdene Zuu however is one of Mongolia’s major tourist attractions, and it has been visited by all reviewers. Michael managed to fit in the Uygur site of Khar Balgas and the relatively new Karakorum Museum as well. 

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape (ID: 1081)
Country
Mongolia
Status
Inscribed 2004 Site history
History of Orkhon Valley
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • ii
  • iii
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Cultural Landscape: Continuing
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (23) .
Connections of Orkhon Valley
Individual People
  • Genghis Khan
    Kharkhorum was the capital of Genghis Khan's vast empire.
Geography
  • Yenisei Basin
    joins the Selenge on its way to Lake Baikal and the Yenisei
Trivia
History
  • Silk Roads
    Mongolian route; "The broad, shallow river valley provides water and shelter, key requisites for its role as a staging post on the ancient trade routes across the steppes, such as those now known as the "Silk Road", and for its development as the centre of two of the vast central Asian empires." (AB ev)
  • Located in a Former Capital
    Karakorum 13/14th century Genghis Khan; Khar Balgas was the capital of the Uighur Empire, which governed the area for around 100 years in the 8th and 9th centuries.
  • Palaeolithic and Mesolithic
  • Bronze Age
    Ornated graves
Architecture
Religion and Belief
  • Holiest place
    Ötüken to the ancient Turks
  • Syriac Churches
    "Excavated items include domestic fragments as well as relics associated with ... Nestorian Christianity."
  • Tibetan Buddhism
    Erdene Zuu, Tuvkhun Monastery (traditional Buddhism in Mongolia is a 'Mongolised' version of Tibetan Buddhism)
  • Stupa
    Erdene Zuu
  • Shamanism
    According to the AB evaluation, the sacred mountains of Hangai Ovoo and Undor Sant are "strongly associated with the Shaman tradition of praying for health and prosperity to the forces of mountains, a tradition absorbed by Buddhism and still extant today."
Human Activity
  • Pastoralism
    The grassland is still grazed by Mongolian nomadic pastoralists (AB ev)
  • Irrigation and drainage
    Ordu-Baliq - remains of a water drainage system
  • Petroglyphs
    "Scattered widely across the nominated site are extensive remains of hundreds of Bronze Age graves some with stones engraved with herds of deer and images of the sun and moon."
  • Writing systems
    Early 8th-century Turkic memorials to Bilge Khan and Kul Tigin with their Orkhon inscriptions are admittedly the most impressive monuments from the nomadic Göktürk Empire.
Constructions
  • Bixi
    4 originally marked boundary of Karakorum, at least 1 or maybe 2 still in place. Symbol of Eternity.
  • Horse Stables
    Ordu-Baliq

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Stelae
    Stelae with runic inscriptions at Turkic memorials of Kh?sh?? Tsaidam
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Built in the 8th century
    The Valley contains remains straddling many centuries. The Ruins of Khar Balgas date back to the 8th century AD. It was the capital of the Uighur Empire and was built on the site of the capital of the earlier Gokturk Empire - some of whose monuments also remain. 17kms away are the remains of Karakorum, founded by Ghengis Khan from 1220, which was to become the Mongol capital. It is overlooked by the nearby Erdene Zuu monastery which was built in 1585. (from Wiki and Nom file)
WHS Names
News

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Recent Visitors
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Community Reviews

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First published: 24/06/24.

Christravelblog

Orkhon Valley

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley by Christravelblog

VISIT: LATE NOVEMBER 2023

Orkhon Valley has been covered a couple of times in reviews but never in winter. I made a combined visit with the Deer Stones at Khoid Tamir valley. I did not stay overnight in Karakorum but visited two places. Balgas Ordu Baliq on my way from Ulaanbaatar to Tsetserleg and the Erdene Zuu Monastery on the way back. The roads are well paved and also cleaned if there is snow but still in winter the drive takes long.

Balgas Ordu Baliq can only be reached in winter if there is not fresh snowfall and you can see the tracks of others. As, it's off-road and if you do not see where you go you will get stuck in a ditch in no time. Luckily, on my way to Tsetserleg there was not that much snow so I visited Balgas Ordu Baliq first. The site is not huge, there is a wall left, a pagoda and several towers around. It is however in ruins and weather has a big impact. I walked around an hour and left to Tsetserleg.

On my wat back from Tsetserleg I visited Erdene Zuu. The iconic view outside from the wall and pagodas in the snow is mesmerizing. Inside the walls, I kept my visit short as temperatures dropped to minus 29 Celsius (about minus 20 Fahrenheit). Luckily I was just in time to witness a short ceremony of the monks. After warming up inside the temple, I continued …

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First published: 06/06/24.

Zoë Sheng

Orkhon Valley

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley by Zoë Sheng

One of the easier Mongolia sites with a bus going daily from UB and it "only" takes most of the day with lunch break. The main reason would be to visiting Karakorum's Erdene Zuu. The town is small and was the capital of the Mongol Empire for only a short time. One often thinks of the Mongol Empire as a huuuuuge place but people were scarce and if they would join the empire it's mainly because "woah this guy has a horse" and they never see him again. Well you might giggle now but this wasn't exactly Alexander the Great conquesting the area. With the monastery gone (it's an hour visit tops and right in town) you can arrange for your hotel/homestay to go visit the locals. Anything will do because you basically "ticked off" the site with the monastery but it would be nice if you go for something nice, like local yurts and their horses. The valley is large and empty so I suggest you spend a few days here. The only hotel they have is nice but quoted a huge sum (are we still in Mongolia??) so the local places are the way to go, plus they will help you visit locals more and you get to meet other travels.

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First published: 23/04/22.

Michael Ayers

Orkhon Valley

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley by Michael Ayers

Visit in March 2022

This was the first Site that I visited during my hastily-arranged trip to Mongolia, just after the country had reopened after being closed for the previous two years. Though it is not ideal, it is possible to make a rewarding visit to this Site during the final, at least according to the calendar, week of winter. However, that particular time of the year did significantly affect the type of visit that I was able to make. While I normally would have preferred to travel to the Site and back by bicycling—there is now a reasonable-quality paved road for the entire distance from Ulaanbaatar to Kharkorin—the limited amount of time I had available and, more importantly, the still-cold weather ruled out that option. I also considered traveling on my own to Kharkorin by bus and then finding someone locally to take me around to the interesting locations. However, while I think that would be possible in the summertime, and more so in a “normal” year, I was not confident that I would be able to make those arrangements under the circumstances, especially given that some tourism facilities and services had not completely restarted at the time. Therefore, I needed to book a package tour from a guiding company based in Ulaanbaatar. The trip would require four days, one to travel most of the way to the Site, two for visiting various points of interest, and one to return to UB, with three nights accommodation in traditional …

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First published: 30/06/05.

Solivagant

Orkhon Valley

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley by Solivagant

As an inveterate “listophile” I maintain a large number of travel-related lists. “Ancient Capital Cities of the World” is one – so the chance to “pick up” that of Ghengis Khan at Kharkhorin (“Karakorum”) in Mongolia when we visited in August 2002 was not to be missed! In fact, if you visit Mongolia, you are not likely to miss it. Mongolia has many merits as a destination (particularly its wonderful open spaces and the chance to see/experience a nomadic lifestyle) but historical remains are not a major feature. The nature of the country and its people’s lifestyle meant that Buddhist monasteries were the main permanent buildings and the Stalinist purges of the 1930s destroyed many of these. So, almost any tour of the country is likely to take in the main restored monasteries in Ulaan Baatar and Erdene Zuu.

Mongolia has chosen to badge this WHS inscription as “Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape” rather than specifically as “Karakorum” or the main monastery of the area at Erdene Zuu. A good choice I think. By including all the old sites AND the pastureland, still spotted by gers (yurts) and the herds of horses, yak and camels of nomad families, it ties together past and present very nicely and emphasises the continuity of lifestyle involved. The landscape of the valley and the nearby holy mountains with their shamanistic heritage provides a microcosm of Mongolian culture and is well worth spending a couple of days to see. We were a “group” of just …

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First published: 01/05/05.

Anonymous

Orkhon Valley

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley by Astraftis

Erdene Zuu is a remarkable place. I was lucky enough to be there almost on my own, and I found the atmosphere of remoteness and history almost tangible. Apart form the slightly tacky, but almost inevitable gift shop and trinket sellers it is possible to get a feeling for the amazing ancient society that was based around here. The town nearby is nothign to write home about, but was once home to Chinggis Khan and his warroir hordes. That they survived in such a remote place is one thing; that they ruled such a huge part of the world from such a place is something else entirely.

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First published: 20/09/02.

Els Slots

Orkhon Valley

Orkhon Valley (Inscribed)

Orkhon Valley by Els Slots

Karakorum nowadays is a small town in the center of Mongolia. There's even a road there from Ulan Bator, one of the few in Mongolia. The town hosts the country's major tourist attraction: Erdene Zuu monastery. So we weren't the only visitors here. The monastery buildings are encircled by a wall of 108 white stupas: just great!

The next day, after staying the night in a comfortable ger camp, we drove on to Tövkin Khid. This is a smaller monastery in the mountains, a few hours from Karakorum. The drive to get there is completely off-road, crossing a river and driving along the paths in the grasslands. This day was undoubtedly the best day of my stay in Mongolia: I wished it would never end. The landscape around here is greener and hillier than in the rest of Central Mongolia, and so pure. We also visited a nomadic family on the move, dismantling their ger with help from their neighbours.

In the Orkhon area you can see quite a number of gers from nomadic families, maybe because of the proximity of a 'big city'. This traditional way of living is still quite common in rural areas, though I wonder for how long. The grasslands are getting drier and drier by the year.

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