Aglag Monastery: Mongolia’s Strange, Beautiful Buddhist Sanctuary

Carved into a mountainside outside Ulaanbaatar, Aglag Monastery is unlike any temple in Mongolia. Here’s its history and what makes it worth visiting.

Aglag Monastery is, in the best possible way, odd. Tucked into a mountainside in Töv Province, not far from Ulaanbaatar, it doesn’t look like any other temple in Mongolia. Larger than life sculptures of Buddhist deities emerge directly from the rock face, mythical creatures perch along the cliffs, and the whole site feels less like a single building and more like an entire mountainside that’s been quietly transformed into a place of worship. If you think you know what a Mongolian monastery looks like, this one will surprise you.

Everything you Need to Book for When You Land in Ulaanbaatar

Everything you need to book when you arrive in Ulaanbaatar.

🚕 Airport Transfer into the Ulaanbaatar City Center

Book your airport transfer before you land. Ulaanbaatar taxis are chaotic and this is worth the peace of mind.

→ Book an Airport Transfer

🛌 Where to Stay

My picks at every budget, all within walking distance of Sukhbaatar Square:

→ Hostel One: best hostel in the city for solo travelers

→ Urgoo Hotel: locally owned boutique spot, great value and location

→ H9 Hotel Nine: steps from everything and great value (highly recommend!)

→ Best Western Premier Tuushin: 4-star hotel next to the square for a more comfortable stay and notable service (plus, a safe place to store luggage while you’re in the countryside)

👉 Make the Most of Your Time in the Capital

If you have extra days, these are the experiences I’d actually recommend:

→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Guided City Tour with Car

→ Cooking Class in a Local Home

→ Mongolian Traditional Dance & Music Concert Ticket

→ Chinggis Khaan Equestrian Statue & Terelj National Park

→ Ulaanbaatar: Private Nomad Horseback Ride + Homemade Lunch

How to Get to Aglag Monastery

Aglag Monastery sits roughly 84 kilometers northwest of Ulaanbaatar, close enough to reach as a same-day trip without needing to leave Töv Province at all. That relative closeness to the capital, combined with how genuinely different it feels once you arrive, makes it one of the more rewarding day trips available near the city, especially for anyone who’s already seen Ulaanbaatar’s more well known temples and is looking for something less expected.

A History Shaped by Destruction and Rebuilding

The monastery’s roots go back to the 18th century, but like much of Mongolia’s religious heritage, it didn’t survive the 20th century unscathed. During the Soviet era, Buddhist institutions across the country were targeted and heavily damaged, and Aglag was no exception. What stands today is largely the result of rebuilding, a return of a spiritual site that had been deliberately suppressed for decades.

That history of destruction and revival isn’t unique to Aglag, but it’s part of what makes visiting sites like this one feel meaningful. It’s not just an old building, it’s a place that had to be reclaimed.

A Vision Carved Into the Mountain

What sets Aglag apart today is largely the work of Buddhist lama and artist Purevbat, whose vision shaped the monastery into what it’s become: stone carvings integrated directly into the natural rock, quiet meditation spaces tucked into the landscape, small temples positioned along the mountaintop, and sculptures of mythical creatures woven throughout the site. Rather than building a temple and placing it on the mountain, the mountain itself became part of the temple.

The result is a site that functions as both an active place of worship and meditation and something closer to an open air sculpture garden, one built entirely around Buddhist tradition and belief rather than for visitors, even though visitors are welcome.

What to Expect

Aglag remains an active spiritual site, used for worship, meditation, and learning, not a museum or a preserved relic. Wandering through it feels quiet and unhurried, with plenty of natural solitude built into the landscape itself. Compared to many of the more visited religious sites near Ulaanbaatar, Aglag tends to be far less crowded, which only adds to the sense that you’ve found somewhere genuinely off the beaten path.

Author: Breanna Wilson

Hi! Sain uu! I’m Breanna, an American travel writer and adventurer living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for more than 9 years. I’ve written for and been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, CNN, Forbes, and the New York Times, among others. Read more of my Mongolia travel articles here.