----- Original Message -----

From: Denise McMahon

To: Mongol@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 2:31 AM

Subject: Re: [Mongol] Kublai Khan's Xanadu unearthed in China

Oh! How I wish I were on that dig team.

How exciting.

-Rowan B.

On Jul 8, 2009, at 5:45 PM, Luigi Kapaj wrote:

Kublai Khan's Xanadu unearthed in China

http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-69650.html

Beijing, July 8: Xanadu, the city built by Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and
mentioned by Italian traveller Marco Polo, has been unearthed by Chinese
archaeologists who have sketched its layout.

'The most exciting findings are the layout of the moat in front of the
Mingde Gate to the royal capital in the three-month excavation,' said Yang
Xingyu, a senior archaeologist.

Xanadu, also spelled Shangdu, was built in 1256 under the command of Kublai
Khan, the first emperor of Yuan or Mongol Dynasty (1206-1368). It became the
summer capital of Mongol emperors of China after the Yuan Dynasty moved its
capital to what is now Beijing.

Yang said that the excavation programme is expected to take three years to
unearth structures in Shangdu.

Marco Polo (1254-1324) once described the prosperity of Shangdu in his book,
arising the interest of many archaeologists and historians.

The regional administration of Inner Mongolia has submitted an application
for World Cultural Heritage status for the site with the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

--- IANS

========================================
Luigi
(or, in the SCA: "Gulugjab Tangghudai" / Puppy)
puppy@viahistoria.com

http://www.NYCMongol.com

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