Kharakhorum Museum

About this place

The Kharakhorum Museum is a small modern museum in Kharkhorin town, telling the story of the Mongol Empire's capital that stood here in the 13th century. Since little of the old city survives above ground, this is the best place to imagine how it looked. A short visit fits well before the nearby Erdene Zuu Monastery. Construction began in 2007 with funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Japanese government, and the museum opened in 2011. It displays finds from the ruins of Karakorum and from the Hunnu period, the Uyghur Khaganate, the Liao dynasty and the Mongol Empire. Its collection includes about 300 Mongol imperial coins with inscriptions in Arabic and Phags-pa script, found between 2000 and 2005. From outside the building looks low and half-buried, with a green roof and a sloping entrance. Inside are rooms of pottery, coins, bricks and inscriptions, along with maps of old empires. The most striking exhibit is a large model of Karakorum with its walls and palace, which gives you a picture of how it once was. Stone markers and a memorial plaque stand on the square outside. It sits near the centre of Kharkhorin, about 1 km in a straight line from the middle of town, on Khushuu Tsaidam Road. One source gives hours of 9:00 to 18:00, with shorter hours in winter, so check before you go. It works best to start here and then visit the ruins and monastery. An hour is enough.