the town is still dominated by the now ruined leh palace, former home of the royal family of ladakh. the palace resembles a mini version of the potala palace in tibet. leh and other places of ladakh are renowned for buddhist culture and monasteries. the wonders of this land include golden statue of buddha, high class paintings, ancient manuscripts and the monasteries. the famous moasteries include hemis, aalchi, chuglamsar, mulbekh, shey, spitak, and thiksey. the mosque of leh was built by prince namgyal singe in 1594. the mosque is a fine model of turkish and iranian architecture.