The archaeological site of Por-Bajin is situated on an island in Lake Tere-Khol in the Republic of Tuva in Southern Siberia, very close to the border with Mongolia, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.
This 1,300-year-old fortress-like structure still divides the experts as what it actually was in its hey-day.
It’s a site that I wasn’t aware of until recently and it fascinates and frustrates the experts in equal measure because there are differing opinions regarding who built it and why.
Some people think it’s a summer palace, some say a monastery, others believe its an astronomical observatory and some believe it’s a fortress?
So what is it?
In this video, I'll be taking a closer at the mysterious ruins of this so-called island palace.