Erdene Zuu Monastery in Kharkhorin was built in 1585 on the order of Abtai Sain Khan, ruler of the Khalkha Mongols. It belongs to the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and the article calls it probably the earliest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Stones from the nearby ruins of Karakorum were used. The temples have painted walls and Chinese-style roofs of green tiles, and the outer wall was planned to resemble a rosary of 108 stupas.
It was damaged in 1688 during the Dzungar-Khalkha wars. In 1939, Khorloogiin Choibalsan ordered it destroyed in a purge. Three small temples and the outer stupa wall survived. In 1944, Stalin pressured him to keep it as a showpiece for foreign visitors, and in 1947 the temples became museums.
After 1990 it was returned to lamas and restored for worship. It is part of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site.
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