Angkor Thom was the last capital of the Angkor period and had a population of
about one million people. It's very likely that it was more opulent than any
city of its time in Europe.
The city of Angkor Thom was encircled by a wall 8 meters high. In the shape of
a square, the wall was about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) long on each side.
Surrounding the outside of this wall was a 100 meter wide moat. Entrances to
the city crossed the moat from all four directions, with one side having two
"causeways" crossing the moat. All five entrances to Angkor Thom lead directly
to Bayon, a temple located in the precise center of Angkor Thom. Also within
Angkor Thom is the Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, Baphuon,
Phimeanakas and other lesser temples.
The causeways leading into Angkor Thom pass through gates or "gopuras"
in the walls that surround the city. The gopuras are towers that project above
the top of the wall and have beautifully carved faces that look out in all four
directions. The causeways that cross the moats leading to these gopuras
are like wide streets that
are lined on each side with 54 elaborately carved figures, gods on one side
and demons on the other.
These photos of Angkor Thom and Bayon were taken in the summer of 2003.
Bayon was one of my favorite temples of the Angkor Wat complex. Bayon has
more than 50 large
stone towers with beautifully carved faces on all four sides. Bayon was built
around 1200 AD. On the inside are long stone walls with carved bas-relief
murals
that depict both day-to-day life at that time and the history of battles that
were fought. I hope you enjoy these photos of Bayon.
