Independence Monument

The Independence Monument was set up at the crossing of Norodom and Sihanouk boulevards in memory of the end of the French protectorate in 1953. The design was made by Vann Molyvann, chief architect of the Sangkum and creator of the so-called New Khmer Architecture, and the memorial was unveiled in November 1962. The tower, thirty-seven metres high, repeats the form of the lotus-shaped prang of the Angkorian temples, and its tiers are decorated with a hundred naga heads. Later the monument became a memorial to the dead as well, and at its foot a flame is lit and wreaths are laid on public holidays. In the evenings the tower is floodlit in the colours of the national flag, and the square around it turns into a place for evening strolls.

On the map