The Lost City Of Xanadu: The Summer Capital Of The Yuan Dynasty
Wikimedia CommonsThe site of Xanadu in Inner Mongolia.
Shangdu — known in the West as Xanadu — served as the summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Built in 1256 by Kublai Khan’s Chinese advisor Liu Bingzhong, the city represented a unique fusion of nomadic Mongolian and Han Chinese cultures. From this grassland capital on the Mongolian plateau, Kublai Khan first established his power base before founding the Yuan Dynasty, which would rule China for nearly a century and extend its influence across Asia.
The city was planned according to traditional Chinese feng shui principles, positioned with mountains to the north and a river to the south. Its innovative design combined Han Chinese architectural elements with Mongolian palace structures and yurt-style buildings, spreading across approximately nine kilometers. The Venetian explorer Marco Polo visited Kublai’s court between 1275 and 1292, famously describing it as a city of grandeur with a “cane palace” — a description that would later inspire Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s romantic poem “Kubla Khan.”
Wikimedia CommonsThe ruins of Xanadu.
The city’s significance extended beyond politics and architecture as well.
Shangdu hosted momentous religious debates in the 13th century that resulted in the spread of Tibetan Buddhism throughout northeast Asia, establishing a religious tradition that continues today. However, Shangdu’s glory was short-lived. When the Ming Dynasty replaced the Yuan in 1369, the city was stripped of its status and reduced to a border guard post, ultimately being abandoned in 1430.
For centuries, Shangdu existed only in legend and literary imagination. Then, the site was rediscovered in Inner Mongolia and opened to the public in 2011. One year later, in 2012, UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List.
After learning about these lost cities from around the world, see some of the world’s most haunting sunken cities. Then, check out 44 of the most stunning ancient ruins across the globe.
