Place · 47.92° N · 106.92° E
Urga
Today UlaanbaatarӨргөө
Seven books by five travelers mention Urga between 1870 and 1943. Here is what each of them saw, in the order they were there.
- 1870–1882
Among the Mongols
The lama-city on the north bank of the Tola, roughly midway on Gilmour's Kalgan-to-Kiachta road and the subject of its own chapter. The Mongols of the book call it Hure, 'the enclosure,' in full 'Bogda Lama en Hure,' the encampment of the supreme lama.
…poor cheap things that even in remote regions, such as Kiachta and Urga, cost only a trifle, but which are of great use in shading the eyes from the glare of the…Listen from here · chapter 6, 16:12…it in Kiachta, but the greater part is contracted for only as far as Urga, where new carriers have to be found to forward it over the remaining two hundred miles…Listen from here · chapter 13, 9:10 - 1884–1943
Under a Lucky StarRoy Chapman Andrews
The monastic capital of Outer Mongolia, seat of the Living Buddha and of the autonomous Mongol government Andrews dealt with. Renamed Ulaanbaatar ('Red Hero') in 1924.
…of China and Manchuria, twice across the Gobi Desert from Kalgan to Urga, the capital of Mongolia, and northward, on horseback, through the vast unexplored…Listen from here · chapter 15, 5:58They saw men, women, and children butchered in the streets of Urga or swinging by the neck from their own door posts; dogs gnawing at frozen bodies in every…Listen from here · chapter 19, 10:00 - 1893–1929
Larson, Duke of Mongolia
Mongolia's old capital, the monastic city that grew around the Living Buddha's court. "Urga" renders the Mongolian Өргөө ("palace"); it was renamed Ulaanbaatar ("Red Hero") in 1924.
…had lived in many different parts of the country, I was called up to Urga and created a Mongol duke by the Emperor of Mongolia, with full rights equal to those of…Listen from here · chapter 1, 5:24…Jews, and put to death with terrible cruelty all the Russian Jews in Urga that he could lay his hands on, — men, women, and children, — despite everything that the…Listen from here · chapter 4, 33:28 - 1902
Journeys in Mongolia
The old name for Mongolia's capital, the monastic city of the Living Buddha. 'Urga' renders the Mongolian Өргөө ('palace'); it was renamed Ulaanbaatar ('Red Hero') in 1924.
…and to make an excursion to Khailar before turning westward towards Urga, but at Ulan Nor I heard that the cholera was more virulent than ever, that it had…Listen from here · chapter 8, 3:02…and his subjects were performing, under pressure from Peking and Urga, the disagreeable duty of indemnifying the sufferers, whose claims, of course, exceeded…Listen from here · chapter 9, 4:56 - 1919–1920
Across Mongolian PlainsRoy Chapman Andrews
The old name for Mongolia's capital, the monastic city that grew around the court of the Bogd Khan. "Urga" renders the Mongolian Өргөө ("palace," the Khan's great residence); it was renamed Ulaanbaatar ("Red Hero") in 1924.
…by a clever bit of Oriental intrigue sent four thousand soldiers to Urga with the excuse of protecting the Mongols from a so-called threatened invasion of Buriats…Listen from here · chapter 2, 3:53…every hillside, we never found strawberries, such as the Russians in Urga gather on the Bogdo-ol, and only one patch of raspberries on a burned-off mountain slope;…Listen from here · chapter 14, 3:48 - 1920–1921
Beasts, Men and Gods
Mongolia's capital, the monastic city of the Living Buddha (its great monastery is the 'Ta Kure'), taken by Baron Ungern in February 1921. Ossendowski's escape ends here, in audiences with the Baron and the blind Bogdo. Renamed Ulaanbaatar in 1924.
…Olets, Amursana, ran away into Russia but before his escape sent to Urga the sacred ‘black stone.’ While it remained in Urga so that the Living Buddha could bless…Listen from here · chapter 46, 5:15 - 1922–1925
On the Trail of Ancient ManRoy Chapman Andrews
The old name for Mongolia's capital, the monastic city that grew around the court of the Bogd Khan, the 'Living Buddha.' 'Urga' renders the Mongolian Өргөө ('palace'); it was renamed Ulaanbaatar ('Red Hero') in 1924.
…of fact, the set never did function properly, and, after we left Urga, we were entirely without news, although the legation sent out messages frequently during…Listen from here · chapter 6, 19:08On the twenty-fourth of May while Mac Young and I were en route to Urga to obtain certain permits we fought our way through snowdrifts for three days although it…Listen from here · chapter 17, 23:10
Hear every account in full
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