Angkor Wat is part of Cambodia’s extensive temple complex near Siem Reap. The site map (from École Française d’Extrême-Orient and Nils Tremmel) indicates some of the 100 major temples constructed by a succession of kings from the 7th through 13th centuries.
History & Architecture
- Constructed early in the 12th century under Suryavarman II
- Built in pyramid shape with three levels
- A long sandstone brick causeway leads to the entrance of the Hindu temple — the world’s largest religious structure
- Decorated with extensive bas-relief sculpture covering more than one square kilometer
- Features architectural elements analogous to medieval European flying buttresses
- “Angkor Wat means ‘temple that is a city.’”
