Mogao Caves

UNESCO-listed Silk Road Buddhist cave complex with 492 caves and 45,000 m² of wall paintings, carved between the 4th and 14th centuries.

The Mogao Caves were begun in 366 CE and continued in use for a thousand years. 492 surviving caves contain around 45,000 m² of wall paintings and 2,400 painted clay figures — the greatest surviving Silk Road art repository in the world. The painting subjects span Buddhist iconography, jataka tales, donor portraits, and rare scenes of Tang-dynasty everyday life. UNESCO-listed since 1987. Visits are tightly controlled to protect the pigment: 8 caves on a guided tour, with a film introduction at the off-site digital exhibition centre. Specialised cave permits are available at higher fees for serious researchers.