Hillfort «Konduy town»

«The residence of the Mongol feudal lord. In 1806 some of bricks, granite bases and statues of the main palace, with the permission of the Eparchy of Nerchinsk, were used by the Cossacks of the Konduy village to build a church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Martyrs Cyricus and Julitta. At the same time, 64 granite statues of dragons and patins (square bases of columns with protruding circles) facing outward are laid in the wall around the perimeter of the church. The building material of the Konduy town was also used in the construction of the Tsugolsky datsan. The first layout of ancient building was carried out by P.K. Frolov in 1798. The poet F.I. Baldauf was so impressed when visited Konduy ruins that he dedicated to them some of his poetry and mentioned Konduy Palace in the poem “Avvan and Gairo”. Two statues were transferred to Saint-Petersburg during 1840s. 

The Palace complex was surrounded by the estates of relatives and close ones, the buildings of artisans and merchants were located at a distance. In construction of the complex brick, stone, tiles and wood were used. Around the palace there were gazebos, park with outbuildings and a swimming pool, which was filled with running water.

The main building of the palace stood on a two-meter high platform, which had two levels of terraces lined with bricks measuring 30 x 30 centimeters. The terraces were embellished with wooden red-varnished balustrade. The wooden pillars of the balustrade were fixed in the supporting granite slabs. The balustrade of the lower terrace was decorated with granite sculptures of dragons mounted in it with an interval of 2 meters (31 specimens were found). The corners of the terrace were decorated with sculptures of a different type. They were made in the form of the front part of a dragon-turtle-shaped monster covered with plates of shell. Brick-lined ramps, consisting of 2 flights, led from different sides to the palace.

The palace was a cruciform building. A wall, assumedly 1.5–2 m high, was built of rubble stone and brick. Its upper parts formed wooden shields with windows. The stone patins served as bases for wooden columns which supported the roof canopies (some of the columns were mounted in the walls). The palace consisted of 3 halls with a total area of about 500 square meters. Patins with red-varnished columns, wrapped in cloth, were located inside the halls with an interval of 2.5 meters. The walls of the palace were embellished with fresco paintings.

The complex roof of the palace was covered with tiles. For coloring of the most significant places, mostly green, less often yellow and red tiles were used. A large number of fragments of drip strips and terminal disks decorated with images of golden dragons, clouds, and relief plant elements have been found. The roof peaks on both sides were decorated with dragon heads with wings. At the corners the roof was decorated with human figures in Buddhist garb, phoenixes and chimeras. S.V. Kiselyov transferred part of the architectural collection to the Chita Regional Museum of Local History, and one of the stone statues of dragons to the TSU.

The town was a provincial replica of the palace complex of Karokorum, the capital of the Great Mongol Empire on the Orkhon River, which was destroyed by fire at the end of the 14th century».