Siem Reap · Cambodia · Angkor Archaeological Park
Angkor Wat.
The temple that faces west.
Five towers above a moat 190 metres wide, an outer wall of 3.6 kilometres, galleries with 800 metres of relief: Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and the heart of a park holding the capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th century. Here is everything for your trip: the history from the construction under Suryavarman II to the rediscovery, tickets and the Angkor Pass with the rules for sunrise and dress, and our own map of the park.
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th century; across 400 square kilometres lie the temples from Phnom Bakheng via Angkor Wat to the Bayon in Angkor Thom. Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century under Suryavarman II as a temple to Vishnu and is the only temple in the park never wholly abandoned. Angkor has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992 and was on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1992 to 2004. Source: UNESCO
Four ways into the temple
Understand, plan,
find your way
01AI vision1860The rediscoveryFrom the completed temple around 1150 through Zhou Daguan’s visit in 1296, the monks in the jungle and Henri Mouhot in 1860 to today: the time journey across the western causeway.Start the journey 02Real photo802 ADThe historyFrom the consecration of Jayavarman II through the construction under Suryavarman II to the monks who never left the temple.Read the history 03Checked 25 Sep 20262026Tickets & Angkor PassUS$37 for one day, 62 for three, sold only by Angkor Enterprise, sunrise, dress code, tuk-tuks from Siem Reap.Plan your visit 
04Own plan20 sitesThe mapPlan of the park with Angkor Wat, the Small and Grand Circuit, ticket office and entrances.Open the map Angkor Wat in brief
Angkor Wat in brief
Where is Angkor Wat?
In north-western Cambodia, about seven kilometres north of Siem Reap and 320 kilometres from Phnom Penh. Siem Reap-Angkor airport lies 40 kilometres to the east; from the centre it is 15 to 20 minutes by tuk-tuk, with the ticket office on the way.
When was Angkor Wat built?
In the first half of the 12th century under Suryavarman II (reigned 1113 to about 1150) as state temple and mausoleum dedicated to Vishnu; towards the end of the century it became Buddhist. The capital of Angkor itself goes back to 802, when Jayavarman II had himself consecrated universal ruler on Phnom Kulen.
What can you see today?
Angkor Wat with the western causeway, the relief galleries and the Bakan; Angkor Thom with the South Gate and the faces of the Bayon; Ta Prohm beneath the strangler figs; on the Grand Circuit Preah Khan and Pre Rup, and 25 kilometres north Banteay Srei. The Angkor Pass covers them all.
How long do you need?
One day for Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Ta Prohm, three days for the Grand Circuit, Banteay Srei and a second sunrise. The Angkor Pass comes in one-, three- and seven-day versions; our map has routes for both circuits.
Looking beyond Angkor
At the same
time, elsewhere.
When Angkor Wat was completed around 1150, Chichén Itzá had stopped growing, Rome was a city of churches among the ruins, and Tikal had lain under the forest for 250 years. Drag the marker and discover the other sites.
- 100 BC – 79 AD A city still inhabited
- 600 BC – 90 BC Before Rome
- 89 BC – 61 AD Roman municipium
- 62 AD – 78 AD After the earthquake
- 79 AD – 79 AD The destruction
- 500 BC – 200 BC The Forum of the Republic
- 199 BC – 1 BC Villas on the Palatine
- 1 AD – 79 AD Nero’s lake in the valley
- 80 AD – 437 AD The amphitheatre in use
- 438 AD – 599 AD Last games
- 600 AD – 1348 AD Fortress, workshop, quarry
- 1349 AD – 1500 AD After the earthquake of 1349
- 600 BC – 481 BC Before the Parthenon
- 480 BC – 448 BC After the Persian destruction
- 447 BC – 433 BC A monument takes shape
- 432 BC – 399 AD The Classical ensemble
- 400 AD – 1000 AD New uses, the same rock
- 300 BC – 1 BC A Hellenistic framework
- 1 AD – 149 AD Roman living spaces
- 150 AD – 269 AD The age of the library
- 270 AD – 800 AD A building changes its role
- 1 AD – 149 AD The city grows
- 150 AD – 249 AD An axis for the city
- 250 AD – 599 AD Life between the monuments
- 600 AD – 700 AD A centre in transition
- 600 BC – 199 AD Before the great temples
- 200 AD – 694 AD A Classic Maya city
- 695 AD – 733 AD After the victory over Calakmul
- 734 AD – 799 AD Monument and memory
- 800 AD – 950 AD An urban world in transition
- 600 AD – 849 AD Old Chichén
- 850 AD – 899 AD Between two cities
- 900 AD – 1049 AD The florescence of the new city
- 1050 AD – 1199 AD After the fall
- 1200 AD – 1250 AD The age of Mayapán
- 800 AD – 1112 AD Before Angkor Wat
- 1113 AD – 1150 AD A temple takes shape
- 1151 AD – 1180 AD After the builder
- 1181 AD – 1295 AD The age of Jayavarman VII and after
- 1296 AD – 1350 AD Zhou Daguan’s Angkor
- 1351 AD – 1430 AD Droughts and monsoons
- 1431 AD – 1500 AD The capital moves on
The bands show editorial windows from our stories, not complete settlement histories. Window boundaries organise the narrative; not every change can be dated to a single year. Photographs show the surviving condition, not the selected year. Present-day coastlines provide orientation.
From your screen to the western causeway
Experience Angkor Wat yourself
The park opens daily at 5 am; the Angkor Pass is sold only by Angkor Enterprise, online, in the app or at the ticket office on Road 60. Guided tours from Siem Reap make sense of the reliefs and the kings they depict, and get you to sunrise in time.
Affiliate link: we may receive a commission when you book through GetYourGuide. The historical interpretation remains independent.
Sources and context
This overview relies on UNESCO, the APSARA Authority and Angkor Enterprise; each subpage cites its sources alongside the content.
Images and usage rights
West facade of Angkor Wat: photo Balon Greyjoy, 2019, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Map: own plan based on OpenStreetMap data (ODbL).
Angkor Wat from the west across the lotus pond, photographed on 10 December 2019. Balon Greyjoy / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and converted to WebP; no cropping or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
The Kukulcán pyramid (El Castillo) at Chichén Itzá, north side with the restored stairway, seen from the Great Platform. Photograph taken on 31 May 2013. Arian Zwegers / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
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The excavations of Herculaneum seen from the access ramp: the boat houses on the ancient beach below, above them the terrace of Marcus Nonius Balbus, the town and Vesuvius; modern Ercolano on top. Photograph taken on 27 March 2023. Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
View from the upper tier into the Colosseum: the exposed hypogeum, the partly reconstructed arena floor and the tiers opposite. Photograph taken on 15 September 2022. Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
View from the Pnyx towards the Acropolis of Athens and the Parthenon, photographed on 20 May 2020. George E. Koronaios / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and converted to WebP; no cropping or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
The façade of the Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey, photographed on 8 April 2015. Carole Raddato / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and converted to WebP; no cropping or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
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Temple I at the Great Plaza of Tikal, Guatemala. Photograph taken on 26 June 2015. Kaldari / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0. Resized to a maximum edge of 1600 pixels and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
View across the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacan: the Pyramid of the Sun stands to the right, with the Pyramid of the Moon at the far end of the axis. Photograph taken on 27 December 2017. Ralibreros112 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to a maximum edge of 1600 pixels and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
The Great Plaza of Tikal with Temple I, seen from Temple II; the North Acropolis stairway on the left, the Central Acropolis on the right. Photograph taken on 21 July 2010. Mario Bollini / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0. Resized to 1600 pixels wide and compressed as WebP; no crop or content alterations. Framing varies by screen. Derived photograph under the same licence.
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