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Shangdu's District of
The Stone City
Administrator:
Position is currently vacant
The inner square of Shangdu, home to the Palace of Kublai Khan.
Legends tell us that "The Stone City" derives from the original walled palace built by Kublai Khan. The rest of Shangdu was built outwards after the inner fortress palace was completed. Built on a great stone plinth due to the dampness of the ground, the springs resulted in dozens of planned water features, from piped water to fountains, all built around the massive Imperial Palace. Only the most favored courtiers lived here. The rest of the inner square was taken up with the Great Khan’s palace. Only the most favored of courtiers were permitted to share The Stone City with the Khan.
Since Shangdu was designed to take into account both the Chinese esthetic of its primary architect and the openness of a Mongol camp, it was designed as three increasingly large squares, set one inside the other. Where in the city you lived depended upon your place in the great scheme of things, based on how important you are to the Khan. The original, and smallest, of the three great rectangles of Shangdu, the Stone City is still a square of over 500 meters per side - small for a neighborhood, big for a palace! Since the earth in that area was slightly marshy, a foundation was built for the palace and the springs channeled into providing water for city fountains and daily use. The interior of the palace heavily relied upon imported marble, ceramics, and glazed and gilded tiles. Yet the lavish decoration of the Stone City, using the finest architects and artists from China, distressed many of the more conservative Mongols. They were used to constant movement with their horses and portable yurts - The Stone City was built of brick and giant stone. It shimmered with gilded columns, curving roofs, gilded tiles, silk hangings, and even marble (brought at unimaginable expense). It was a Chinese palace, and while that pleased the great Khan, it disturbed many of his followers! If you wish to live in the luxury of the Stone City, you must be very important indeed to the Khan's government or a leader of his armies. Only the best-favored were permitted to dwell within the sacred precincts of the Khan's private city. Acknowledgments for use of the beautiful image of a Mongol Queen atop her horse from Mongol Travel
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