Prime Minister Orders Protection of Bogd Khaan Palace Museum and Cultural Heritage
Politics
Ulaanbaatar, August 7, 2025 /MONTSAME/. On August 6, 2025, Prime Minister of Mongolia Zandanshatar Gombojav issued directives to safeguard the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum and to preserve the country’s historical and cultural heritage.
Prime Minister Zandanshatar underscored the critical need to preserve the original state and intrinsic cultural value of heritage sites and to ensure their transmission to future generations. Accordingly, the Prime Minister Zandanshatar assigned the following tasks to relevant officials:
- Verify whether the 2007 Decree No. 523 of the Governor of the
Capital City and the Mayor of Ulaanbaatar, which allocated a
700-square-meter plot near the Bogd Khaan's Khuren Ordon in the 11th Khoroo of Khan-Uul District for private use, complies with applicable laws and
regulations; refer any officials found in violation to the competent legal
authorities for investigation, claim any resulting damages, and report the
findings to the Government within August 2025.
- Suspend construction permits granted for the
area in question during the ownership review period, in accordance with
Article 96.1 of the General Administrative Law.
- Submit a proposal to elevate the Bogd Khaan
Summer Palace to state-level protection status under Article 13.1.7 of the
Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
- Impose building height restrictions in the
vicinity of the Khuren Ordon to preserve its architectural
prominence, as stated in Article 37.6 of the Law on the Protection of
Cultural Heritage.
- Inspect and finalize protection zones around
historical and immovable cultural monuments, and develop rescue and
restoration plans for any cultural property at risk of deterioration,
damage, or destruction.
The palace and residence of the VIII Bogd Jetsundamba Khutugtu—the last monarch of Mongolia and the Theocratic King of Religion and State with Absolute Power of Mongolia who led the Mongolian Revolution of 1911—are regarded
as a valuable cultural and historical heritage of the Mongolian state and an
integral part of the urban development history of the capital city,
Ulaanbaatar. Thus, to safeguard the value of the Bogd Khaan’s Palace Museum, the
Government of the time adopted resolutions in 1961 and 1971 to place the site
under state protection. However, in 2007, 700 square meters of land adjacent to
the Khuren Ordon were privatized to a citizen. Given that a
building is now being constructed on this site, Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav emphasized that this situation demonstrates a failure of
the state to fulfill its duty to protect historical and cultural heritage.