Who built this MYSTERIOUS FORTRESS in the middle of a Siberian lake?

Scientists are still hard pressed to reveal a definitive answer to who built a 1,300-year-old structure in Siberia, and for what purpose this walled structure had.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Located on the middle of a Siberian island and enclosed by stone walls, Por-Bajin was most likely built in 757 A.D., but its secrets have continued to allude researchers since it was first discovered in 1891.

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Some smaller excavation work was carried out at the site between 1957 and 1963, but serious research into the ruins was not done until 2007.

At the site, archaeologists found clay tablets, the faded remains of drawings on the plaster of the walls and fragments of burnt wood, but there have been no convincing theories about what the structure was; current theories are that it was a fort, monastery or religious site.

The complex's officials website calls it "one of the most mysterious archaeological monuments of Russia."

"Apparently it was built at the period of the Uighur Khagante nomadic empire (744-840 AD)." It's still unclear why the military empire would build such a fortress in such a solitary area, far from large settlements or trade routs.

Por-Bajin is located in the center of Eurasia, on the border between Russia and Mongolia. It sits on an island located in a lake between the Sayan and Altai ranges.

Archaeologists have built a 3D model of the site, but still much of the structure is well preserves, including walls that stand over 30 feet high and are more than 36 feet wide. Inside walls were only about three feet tall, and a large building was located in the center of the site.

The fortress was built in a style typical of the Chinese architectural style of the eighth century.

"The building was most likely of the post-and-beam construction characteristic of Chinese architecture from the T'ang Dynasty," said head archaeologist Irina Arzhantseva in a report published in The European Archaeologist in 2011.

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"Finds of burnt timber fragments point to the use of the typical Chinese technique of interlocking wooden brackets, called dou-gung. Ramps led down to the two flanking galleries which were roofed, open spaces looking onto the access to the main pavilion."

While a definitive answer for the use of the Por-Bajin fortress is unsure, there is evidence that it was a Buddhist palace, or at least built along the lines of Buddhist Paradises as depicted in certain paintings.

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