Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape
Mongolia signed the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO in February of 1992 and until recently only had one site inscribed on the World Heritage List. One of the most important suggestions for the list was the 'Cultural Landscape of the Orkhon Valley'. With the support of the World Heritage Centre this region was covered in a World Heritage application, however no management was created.
Archaeological finds
document continued occupation of the Orkhon Valley during
the last 100,000 years. It is considered the cradle of central
Asian nomadic civilizations. Different ancient people, like
the Huns and the Uighur, settled here commencing in the
3rd century B.C.
The Orkhon Valley is home to many archaeological, historical
and cultural sites that document the origin and development
of central Asian and specifically Mongolian city building.
Extensive urban centers were developed that served as military,
commercial and administrative corner stones of each empire.
The most important of these was Karakorum, the capital of
the Mongolian Empire in the 13th and 14th century, erected
by Dschingis Khan in 1220. From Karakorum the entire empire
was ruled and the Silk Road trade was controlled.
Karakorum was, however, not the
first urban center in the Orkhon Valley. As early as the
9th century the fortified city of Khar Balgas, capital of
the Uighur empire, played a major role. Today its exceptionally
well-preserved ruins show the great achievements of Pre-Mongolian
Central Asian city builders.
Additional
to the ruins of Khar Balgas and Karakorum and the memorials
of prominent Turkish, Uighurish and Mongolian rulers, the
Orkhon Valley hosts the Erdene Zuu cloister and the attached
hermitage of Tuvkhun. It was the first Buddhist cloister in
Mongolia, founded in 1586 on the ruins of Karakorum. Erdene
Zuu shows all characteristics of public buildings of the Mongolian
era, which in turn has influenced the religious architecture
from the Danube to the Yellow River.
The protection and preservation of the cultural and natural
treasures of the Orkhon Valley, as in most cultural landscapes,
faces problems. A necessary prerequisite for handling problems
like weather damage, dilapidation, vandalism, pot hunting
and increasing tourism is the development of a management
plan that involves all interested parties, including the
local population. This protection and development plan has
a scope of about 10 years, and is binding for the relevant
authorities. It considers the actual and potential dangers
for the sites as well as strategies and measures for handling
these dangers.
The
German World Heritage Foundation supported Mongolia in the
creation of the management plan financially as well as by
networking with experts.The management plan has been finished
and in July 2004 the World Heritage Committee decided to
inscribe Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape in the UNESCO
World Heritage List.