South Gate of Angkor Thom

The South Gate is the most complete of the five entrances to Angkor Thom, the capital of the Khmer empire rebuilt by Jayavarman the Seventh at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. A tower with four faces turned to the points of the compass is raised above the passage, and three-headed elephants crouch at its corners, tearing off lotuses with their trunks. The bridge over the moat is framed on both sides by stone balustrades: fifty-four gods on one side and as many demons on the other pull an enormous naga serpent, repeating the myth of the churning of the ocean of milk. Many heads have long been lost or replaced by copies, but the line of figures has survived and is visible from afar. The main road from Angkor Wat to Bayon runs through this gate, so everyone drives past it.

On the map