Geography · Landmarks & wonders

Angkor Wat

c. 1113–1150

Cambodia — Siem Reap, in the medieval capital of Angkor

The largest religious complex in the world, built in the first half of the 12th century by the Khmer king Suryavarman II as a state temple to Vishnu and gradually turned over to Buddhist worship from the late 13th century. Its five towers, moat and kilometres of bas-relief make it the emblem of Cambodia — the only building to appear on a national flag.

How to spot them

▸Quiz clue: 'Suryavarman II', 'Khmer Empire', 'Siem Reap', 'Churning of the Sea of Milk', 'Mount Meru'
▸Five lotus-bud towers reflected in a vast rectangular moat
▸Hindu in origin, Buddhist in use, and the emblem on a national flag
▸Uniquely among the temples around it, it faces west rather than east

Key facts

Commissioned by the Khmer king Suryavarman II as a state temple to Vishnu (c. 1113–1150)

Later transformed into a Buddhist temple as Khmer kings adopted Buddhism, and a monastery ever since

The only building in the world to appear on a national flag

Its silhouette has featured on Cambodian flags since the 19th century, through every change of regime

Alone among the great Khmer temples, it faces west, towards the setting sun

Often read as a funerary orientation, and taken as evidence it was built as Suryavarman's own mausoleum

Its quincunx of towers represents the five peaks of Mount Meru, the home of the gods

The moat stands for the cosmic ocean and the enclosure walls for the mountains at the world's edge

Its outer gallery carries an 800-metre bas-relief including the Churning of the Sea of Milk

Ninety-two demons and eighty-eight gods haul a serpent to churn the ocean for the elixir of immortality

Its galleries are lined with over 1,700 carved apsaras, no two alike

Celestial dancers, each with distinct hair, jewellery and expression

The French naturalist Henri Mouhot's posthumous journals made it famous in Europe in the 1860s (1860s)

He did not discover it — it had never been abandoned or forgotten by the Khmer

Quick-fire facts

•The site measures about 162.6 hectares, and the moat is roughly 190 m wide
•It is built of sandstone floated from the Kulen hills and laterite, with blocks fitted without mortar
•It is the largest religious structure in the world by land area
•Inscribed by UNESCO in 1992 as part of 'Angkor', and placed at once on the List of World Heritage in Danger; it was removed from that list in 2004
•Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire, at its height perhaps the largest pre-industrial urban complex on earth
•Common misconception: it was never a 'lost city' rediscovered by the French — monks lived and worshipped there continuously
•Another misconception: it is a single temple within the much larger city of Angkor, which also contains Angkor Thom, the Bayon and Ta Prohm

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources

UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Angkor
Michael D. Coe — Angkor and the Khmer Civilization