View source for Orkhon Valley

{{Short description|Valley in central Mongolia}}
{{About|the cultural landscape||Orkhon (disambiguation){{!}}Orkhon}}
{{One source|date=February 2008}}
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS           = Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape
| image         = Orchon-mongolei.JPG
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption       = 
| location      = [[Mongolia]]
| includes      = {{flatlist|
* [[Kharkhorum]]
* [[Moiltyn-am|Moiltyn Am]]
* [[Orkhon-7]]
* [[Khar Balgas]]
* [[Erdene Zuu Monastery]]
* Tuvkhun Hermitage
* [[Shankh Monastery|Shankh Western Monastery]]
* Doit Hill palace
* [[Orkhon inscriptions]]
}}
| criteria      = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ii), (iii), (iv)}} (ii), (iii), (iv)
| ID            = 1081rev
| coordinates   = {{coord|47|33|24|N|102|49|53|E|region:MN|display=title, inline|format=dms}}
| year          = 2004
| area          = {{convert|121,967|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| buffer_zone   = {{convert|61,044|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| locmapin      = Mongolia
| map_caption   = 
}}

The '''Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape'''{{efn|{{bulletedlist|{{IPAc-en|'|ɔr|k|ɒ|n}} {{respell|OR-kon}}<ref>{{dictionary.com|Orkhon|access-date=10 January 2020}}</ref>|{{langx|mn|Орхоны хөндийн соёлын дурсгал|Orkhonii khöndiin soyoliin dursgal}}, {{IPA|mn|ɔrχɜní xɵntíɴ sɔi̯ˑɮíɴ tʊ́rsχəɬ|IPA}}; [[Classical Mongolian]]: {{MongolUnicode|ᠣᠷᠬᠣᠨ ᠤ |}}{{MongolUnicode|ᠬᠥᠨᠳᠡᠢ |}}{{MongolUnicode|ᠶᠢᠨ |}}{{MongolUnicode|ᠰᠤᠶᠤᠯ ᠤᠨ |}}{{MongolUnicode|ᠳᠤᠷᠠᠰᠬᠠᠯ |}}}}}} sprawls along the banks of the [[Orkhon River]] in Central [[Mongolia]], some 320&nbsp;km west from the capital [[Ulaanbaatar]]. It was [[List of World Heritage Sites in Mongolia|inscribed]] by [[UNESCO]] in the [[World Heritage List]] as representing the development of nomadic pastoral traditions spanning more than two millennia.

== Significance ==
For many centuries, the Orkhon Valley was viewed as the seat of the imperial power of the steppes. The first evidence comes from a stone stele with [[Orkhon inscriptions]], which was erected in the valley by [[Bilge Khan]], an 8th-century ruler of the [[Göktürks|Göktürk Empire]]. Some 25 miles to the north of the stele, in the shadow of the sacred forest-mountain [[Ötüken]], was his ''[[Ördü]]'', or nomadic capital. During the [[Khitan people|Khitan]] domination of the valley, the stele was reinscribed in three languages, so as to record the deeds of a Qidan potentate.

Mountains were considered sacred in [[Tengriism]] as an ''[[axis mundi]]'', but Ötüken was especially sacred because the ancestor spirits of the ''[[khagan]]s'' and ''beys'' resided here.  Moreover, a force called ''[[Kut (mythology)|kut]]'' was believed to emanate from this mountain, granting the khagan the divine right to rule the Turkic tribes.<ref>Franke, Herbert. ''The Cambridge History of China''. Cambridge University Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-521-21447-5}}. Page 347.</ref> Whoever controlled this valley was considered heavenly appointed leader of the Turks and could rally the tribes.  Thus control of the Orkhon Valley was of the utmost strategic importance for every Turkic state. Historically every Turkic capital (''Ördü'') was located here for this exact reason.{{dubious|date=June 2021}}

== Sites ==
[[File:Ulaan Tsutgalan Waterfall.jpg|thumb|Ulaan Tsutgalan waterfall.]]
[[File:Gol Zuu Temple 04.jpg|thumb|[[Erdene Zuu monastery]].]]
The main monuments of the Orkhon Valley are as follows:
* The [[Orkhon monuments]] are early 8th-century Turkic memorials to [[Bilge Khan]] and [[Kul Tigin]], the most impressive monuments from the nomadic [[First Turkic Khaganate]]. They were discovered by Russian archaeologists in 1889 and deciphered by [[Vilhelm Thomsen]] in 1893.
* Ruins of [[Ordu-Baliq]] at the site known as Kharbalgas in Mongolian, an 8th-century capital of the [[Uyghur Khaganate]], which cover 50 square km and contain evidence of the palace, shops, temples, monasteries, etc.
* Ruins of Mongol capital of [[Karakorum (palace)|Karakorum]].
* [[Erdene Zuu monastery]] is the first [[Buddhist]] monastery established in Mongolia. It was partly destroyed by Communist authorities in 1937-40.
* [[Tövkhön Monastery|Tuvkhun Hermitage]] is another spectacular monastery, overlooking a hill at 2,600 meters above sea level. It, too, was almost totally destroyed by the Communists.
* Remains of the 13th and 14th century Mongol palace at Doit Hill, thought to be [[Ögedei Khan]]'s residence.
* The Ulaan Tsutgalan waterfall, ten meters wide and twenty meters high, that can sometimes go dry or even freeze during winter.

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/story/LQWx8vzeshltqw Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape] UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture

{{World Heritage Sites in Mongolia}}
{{Göktürks}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Valleys of Mongolia]]
[[Category:Cultural landscapes]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Mongolia]]
[[Category:Göktürks]]