Ulaanbaatar
— — the coldest capital under a thin blue sky.
Not only on a wall.
“The capital of Mongolia and the coldest national capital on earth, with January mornings near minus thirty. The city sits on the Tuul River between four sacred mountains, with Soviet apartment blocks on one slope and felt gers on the next. Gandan monastery still rings its prayers across the valley each morning. Half of Mongolia lives here. — from the studio
Ulaanbaatar, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of Mongolia, holding about 1.6 million people, roughly half the country's population. It sits at about 1,300 metres on the Tuul River, in a long valley between four sacred mountains: Bogd Khan, Songinokhairkhan, Bayanzurkh and Chingeltei. The city was founded in 1639 as a moveable Buddhist monastic camp and shifted location twenty-eight times before settling on the current site in 1778. Bogd Khan Mountain, on the southern edge of the city, has been protected since 1778, one of the oldest legally protected areas in the world.
Ulaanbaatar is the coldest national capital on earth. January averages near minus twenty-five Celsius, and morning lows reach minus thirty. The high valley walls trap coal smoke from the ger districts and the city's three power stations through the winter, giving the air a thick brown layer from October to March. The wind that comes off the steppe in spring is clean and dry, and the sky above the haze is the thin blue the Mongolian flag carries at its centre.
Two festivals run the calendar. Naadam, held every July 11 to 13, brings the three games of men, wrestling, horse racing and archery, into the central stadium. It has been held in the city since 1922, marking the first anniversary of the revolution. Tsagaan Sar, the lunar new year, falls in late January or February. Families gather for steamed buuz dumplings and airag, fermented mare's milk, and visit elders in strict order of age over three days.