Friday, May 10, 2013

Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia

Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. Located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake and south of the Kulen Hills in Cambodia’s northern province of Siem Reap, the ruins of Angkor stretches over some 400 square kilometers.


There are more than a thousand temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Temple of Angkor Wat and and the Bayon Temple. Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate system of infrastructure connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometers to the well-known temples at its core.


Experts believe that it wasn’t much smaller than the whole of Los Angeles when Angkor was at its most populous in the thirteenth century. However, almost all of the population left the city in 1431, when Ayutthaya put down a rebellion and sacked the Khmer capital.


Today, Angkor stands as a city of high architectural, archaeological and artistic significance as well as a major site exemplifying cultural, religious and symbolic values. Angkor Wat is regarded as the largest religious monument in the world. Angkor Archaeological Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Cambodia. More than two million visitors visit the park annually.

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