Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer is a city in the Thar Desert of northwestern Rajasthan, India, about 575 kilometers west of the state capital Jaipur, and serves as the administrative center of Jaisalmer district. It was founded in 1156 CE by Rawal Jaisal of the Bhati Rajput clan, whose name combines with the Sanskrit word mer, meaning mountain or high place, and the city became capital of the Kingdom of Jaisalmer and a medieval trading center. Known as the Golden City for its yellow sandstone buildings, Jaisalmer is dominated by Jaisalmer Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 99 bastions enclosing royal palaces and ornate Jain temples, home to roughly a quarter of the city population. The 2011 census recorded a city population of about 65,471, with the wider urban area near 78,000, and Jaisalmer was ranked ninth in a Booking.com list of the most welcoming cities in the world, the only Indian city on that list.