Ancient city of Gaochang In Turpan

Ancient city of Gaochang is located about 45 km southeast of Turpan, just at the foot of Flaming Mountain. The city initially was built around first century B.C as a garrison city for the surrounding areas. Later city was expanded and became the capital of Gaochang kingdom (9-14 century), a key point along the silk road. During the silk road period, Turpan was the cross road of three big cultures. The layout is divided into three parts: outer city, inner city and palace city. The foundation of the outer city wall is 12 meters wide and 11.5 meters high. It is made of rammers with a small amount of adobe.The inner city is in the middle of the outer city and the plane is square. The walls of the outer city are all rammed earth cities. The West and south sides of the outer city are well preserved. The construction age of the inner city is earlier than that of the outer city. It is also an important political, economic, cultural, religious and military center in the ancient western region. It provides information for the study of the communication and dissemination of urban culture, architectural technology, multi religion and multi-ethnic culture in the Turpan Basin.