The ancient Mongol capital Karakorum is located in modern-day Mongolia.
Karakorum stood in the Orkhon Valley of central Mongolia, near the present-day town of Kharkhorin and the Erdene Zuu Monastery. The valley had long been important to steppe empires, including the Göktürks and Uyghurs, before the Mongols established their own capital there.
Genghis Khan used the area as an imperial camp around 1220, but Karakorum developed into a permanent city under his successor Ögedei Khan. Ögedei ordered city walls and a palace complex in 1235, and Karakorum served as the Mongol Empire’s capital from 1235 to 1260.
Kublai Khan later shifted the principal imperial center to Dadu, near modern Beijing, as he consolidated power in China. Karakorum nevertheless retained symbolic importance. Archaeological excavations have uncovered roads, workshops, coins, ceramics, and evidence of long-distance trade, reflecting the empire’s remarkably diverse population.