Angkor

an imposing complex of temples, palaces, reservoirs, and drains situated north of Tonle Sap Lake near the city of Siemreap (Cambodia); built in the ninth to 13th centuries, when the feudal Khmer government was at the height of its power. Angkor contains the ruins of the capital cities Yasodharapura (built at the end of the ninth century) and Angkor Thorn (completed in the 12th and 13th centuries), stone terrace-socles of wooden palaces, Brahman and Buddhist “hill temples” in the form of steplike pyramids, and massive ensembles of temples.

The largest of these, Angkor Wat (1,300 m by 1,500 m with a height of 66 m), built circa 1113 to 1150, is distinguished by the geometrical rigor of its design and the majestic harmony of its composition: the “hill temple” with five graceful towers and three terraces forming a steplike pedestal is surrounded by galleries with colonnades, pavilions of gates, and angular towers.

Angkor Thorn, which is of square design, occupies an area of more than 9 sq km; four axial streets lead from the hill gates to the center, the Bayon temple; the 54 towers of Bayon and five towers above the gates (gopura) are embellished with enormous (up to 2.4 m) sculptured faces. Angkor has innumerable reliefs—above the doors and on the pilasters and friezes, delicate stonework; on the walls of the temples, exquisite figures of angels (apsar); in the galleries of Angkor Wat and Bayon, scenes of battle and everyday life remarkable for their wealth of figurative and rhythmic detail; and on the palace terraces, vivid depictions of the national life and of animals.