Bars-Hot
{{Short description|City in Tsagaan-Ovoo, Dornod, Mongolia}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Bars Hot
Kherlen Bars
| native_name = Хэрлэн Барс
| native_name_lang = mn
| location = Tsagaan-Ovoo, Dornod Province, Mongolia
| type = Ancient city
| area = 2.88
| length = 1.6
| width = 1.8
| image = Bars_Hot_2010_01.jpg
| caption = Pagoda at Bars Hot in 2010, before restoration
| cultures = Khitans
}}
Bars-Hot or Kherlen Bars ({{langx|mn|Хэрлэн Барс}}) was a city built by the Khitan people in the basin of the Kherlen River in Tsagaan-Ovoo, Dornod Province, Mongolia.{{Cite web | title=Kherlenbars | url=http://mongoliatravel.guide/destinations/view/kherlenbars/ | accessdate=12 December 2017 }} During the Liao dynasty it was called Hedong City ({{zh|t=河董城}}). It occupied an area of 1.6 by 1.8 kilometres and was surrounded with mud walls, which are today 4 metres thick and 1.5–2 metres high.
Bars-Hot Pagoda
A ruined octagonal brick pagoda (sometimes referred to as a stupa or a watchtower) dating to the 11th century is located near the city walls.{{Cite journal | last=Steinhardt | first=Nancy Shatzman | title=The Pagoda in Kherlen-Bars: New Understandings of Khitan-Period Towering Pagodas | journal=Archives of Asian Art | year=2016 | volume=66 | number=2 | pages=187–212 }} It originally comprised seven stories, but its top section is now missing. There were originally a pair of pagodas at this site, but in the 1940s the Soviet garrison used cannon fire to destroy the smaller pagoda.{{Cite book | last1=Habu | first1=Junko | last2=Lape | first2=Peter V. | last3=Olsen | first3=John W. | title=Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology | chapter=The Archaeology of Mongolia's Early States | publisher=Springer | year=2017 | isbn=9781493965212 | page=727 }} Although the remaining pagoda is missing its top section, at {{convert|16.5|m|ft}} in height it is the tallest surviving pre-modern structure in Mongolia.
In June 2014 a team of Mongolian and Japanese scientists surveyed the ruins of the pagoda, and made measurements and 3D scans of it. They found that the external brick wall was {{convert|1.8|m|ft}} thick, with an external diameter of {{convert|9|m|ft}} and an internal diameter of {{convert|5.6|m|ft}} at the base. They found traces of coloured plaster on the surface of the internal wall, which they considered to be remains of a mural painting.{{Cite web | title=Crumbling tower in ancient Mongolian ruins offers clues about Khitan history | url=https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/crumbling-tower-in-ancient-mongolian.html | date=19 September 2014 | accessdate=12 December 2017 }}
The pagoda was extensively restored and reconstructed between 2014 and 2016 and now belongs to several attractions related to the Khitan in eastern Mongolia.{{Cite web|url=https://news.mn/en/182142/|title=Kherlen bars will be restored - News.MN|date=2014-06-13|website=News.MN - The source of news|language=en|access-date=2019-05-06}}{{Cite web|url=http://nayazaya.blogspot.com/2017/11/travel-notes-from-eastern-mongolia.html|title=TRAVEL NOTEs FROM EASTERN MONGOLIA: Every corner of Dornod province|language=en|access-date=2019-05-06}}
References
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Category:Archaeological sites in Mongolia
Category:Former populated places in Mongolia