Zaisan Memorial

Soviet-era war memorial on a hilltop with the best view of Ulaanbaatar

The Zaisan Memorial stands on a low hill south of the city, reached by a long flight of stairs (or by taxi to the base). Built in 1971 to honour Mongolian and Soviet soldiers killed in World War II — including the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939, where Soviet and Mongolian forces defeated the Japanese — the monument features a large circular mosaic mural and a gilded statue.

The mural, in the Soviet heroic style, is a remarkable period piece: figures representing soldiers, workers, cosmonauts, and party officials march and gesture across a panoramic frieze. The real reason to make the climb, however, is the view — UB spreads below you in the bowl of its basin, surrounded by the four sacred mountains (Bogd Khan, Chingeltei, Songino Khairkhan, and Bayanzurkh). On a clear day this is the best vantage point in the city. The Buddhist temple visible on the hillside below the memorial is an added bonus.

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A story
The circular mural at the top of the memorial depicts Soviet-Mongolian friendship in the heroic socialist realist style: tanks, soldiers, flags, workers, cosmonauts. One figure appearing prominently is Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut — despite the fact that WWII, which the memorial commemorates, ended fifteen years before Gagarin's first spaceflight. The inclusion suggests the mural was less a historical record than a general celebration of Soviet achievement. Nobody seems to have pointed this out at the time.

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