Phimeanakas

Phimeanakas is a three-tiered laterite pyramid inside the royal palace of Angkor Thom. It was put together at the end of the 10th century under King Rajendravarman and finished under Suryavarman I, long before the capital of Jayavarman VII grew up around it. Very steep staircases lead to the top with stone lions seated along their sides, and a sanctuary with a golden tower once stood on the upper platform. The Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan, who came here at the end of the 13th century, recorded a legend that every night the king climbed to the summit to a serpent spirit in the guise of a woman, and that the well-being of the kingdom depended on it. Of the other palace buildings only ramparts, ponds and separate foundations survive.

On the map