Ogedei builds Karakorum as imperial capital

1234

On the wind-scoured steppe of the Orkhon Valley, the Great Khan ordered construction of the Mongol empire's first fixed capital. Karakorum rose with the labor of Chinese architects and Persian craftsmen, its crowning glory a famous silver tree fountain that poured kumiss from one spout and wine from another for visiting diplomats. Nestorian churches, Buddhist temples, and a mosque stood side by side within its walls.