Description : The Kizil Caves (simplified Chinese: 克孜尔千佛洞; traditional Chinese: 克孜爾千佛洞; lit. 'Kizil Caves of the Thousand Buddhas'; Uighur: قىزىل مىڭ ئۆي, lit. 'The Thousand Red Houses'; also romanized Qizil Caves, spelling variant Qyzyl; Kizil means 'red') are a set of Buddhist rock-cut caves located near Kizil Township (克孜尔乡, Kèzī'ěr Xiāng) in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. The site is located on the northern bank of the Muzat River 65 kilometres (75 km by road) west of Kucha. This area was a commercial hub of the Silk Road. The caves are said to be the earliest major Buddhist cave complex in China, with development occurring between the 3rd and 8th centuries. Another name for the site has been Ming-oi (明屋, "The Thousand Houses"), although this term is now mainly used for the site of Shorchuk to the east.
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