Turquoise Mountain

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The Turquoise Mountain is the lost Afghan capital of the Middle Ages. It was reputedly one of the greatest cities of its age, but was destroyed by Ögedei Khan, son of Genghis Khan, in the early 1220s and lost to history. It has been proposed that the magnificent Minaret of Jam, in Shahrak District, Ghor Province, is the only standing remains of the city.

[edit] New Discoveries

With the Allied invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Taliban's hold on ancient places was broken, leaving the Ghor Province open to pillagers. Therefore, after the invasion, hundreds of diggers flocked to the Minaret to uncover lost gold. And uncover they did. There remains very little of the present city when visited by Rory Stewart in 2002 (as much of it has been dug through), and many of the treasures that were in the city have now been sold in markets in Herat, Kabul and Teheran.