Phnom Penh Attractions
What to See in Phnom Penh
Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda
Built in 1866, the site contains various
buildings of interest, including the Khmer-style Throne
Hall, now used for special ceremonial occasions. South of
the Throne Hall are the Royal Treasury and the Villa of
Napoleon III, built in Egypt in 1866, for the opening of
the Suez Canal, and was later presented to the Cambodian
king as a gift. The famous Silver Pagoda, originally constructed
of wood in 1866, was expanded in 1962 by King Sihanouk who
had the floor inlaid with 5,329 solid silver tiles, hence
its name.
The most revered image is the Emerald Buddha,
made of Baccarat crystal and dating back to the 17th century.
Behind it, another Buddha statue was cast in 1906, utilizing
90 kg of gold, and decorated with 9,584 diamonds. Cabinets
along the perimeter contain gifts presented to royalty and
dignitaries. Along the inside of the recently restored 600-metre
external wall is a colorful mural depicting scenes from
the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana.
See all excursions available in Phnom Penh...
National Museum of Arts
North of the palace grounds, the building
was designed in Khmer-style, in 1920, by a French architect,
and contains important artifacts and sculptures from the
Angkor era and earlier.
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Wat Ounalom
Built in 1443 to enshrine a sacred hair
of the Buddha, and located north of the National Museum
of Arts, this temple is considered the seat of Cambodian
Buddhism.
When the Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh in 1975,
they vandalized the building and murdered the Abbot along
with many of the 500 monks who lived there.
Wat Phnom
On a hill to the north of the city, and
restored or reconstructed in 1434, 1806, 1894 and 1926,
Wat Phnom is a symbol of the capital city Phnom Penh and
regularly used for prayer, small offerings, and meditation.
Independence Monument
It commemorates the end of French's rule
over Cambodia in 1953. The one hundred nagas and motifs
can be seen in historic, cultural and modern day. It is
also used to commemorate the souls of fallen to combatants
who down their lives for the country's freedom.
Oudong
Located to the north approximately 40km
from Phnom Penh, and located on a hill overlooking vast
plains, this site is famous for cultural patrimonies and
used to be a capital city between1618-1866.
Phnom Tamao Zoo
This recently opened zoo and wildlife rescue
centre, 40km outside the city, was set up to preserve and
rescue rare and endangered local wildlife including tiger,
lion, deer, bear, peacock, heron, crocodile and turtle.
Eighty hectares of the total area have been established
as a national zoo and up to 1,200 hectares have been reserved
for its future extension and development.
Tuol Sleng Museum
Originally built as a secondary school
named Tuol Svay Prey High School in 1960, during the reign
of Preah Batnorodom Sihanouk. The Khmer Rouge converted
this into a torture and interrogation centre to extract
'confessions' of anti-government sentiment. Many victims
were women and children incarcerated along with the 'suspected'
father. Documents recovered indicate that over 17,000 persons
had been imprisoned there between1975 and 1978, only seven
of whom are known to have survived.
The others, once the 'confession' had been
extracted under torture, were transported to Choeung Ek
for execution. Records show that the highest figure was
on 27 May 1978, when 582 persons were sent to their death.
The museum was established in 1979 after the Vietnamese
invasion, and the Khmer Rouge's meticulous photographic
records of their victims are exhibited as tragic testimony
to those who suffered and died in their hands.
Excursion to Tuol Sleng & Cheung Ek...
Choeung Ek Execution Area
15km southwest of the city centre is one
of the many sites of Khmer Rouge mass executions. The exhumed
skulls of some 8,000 souls, arranged by sex and age, are
displayed behind glass panels in the Memorial Stupa, which
was erected in 1988. Although some were killed and buried
at Toul Sleng, most victims were driven out to Choeung Ek
at night by truck.
Some were made to dig their own graves
before being clubbed to death with any heavy instrument
available. In addition to those exhumed, another 43 pits
have been left undisturbed and the final shocking total
can only be guessed. The pleasant orchard setting does little
to dispel the horror engendered by this grim sight, as Choeung
Ek is just one of thousands of recorded mass grave sites
throughout the country, and is by no means, the largest.
On May 9th each year a memorial service is conducted at
the stupa, in memory of the estimated 1.7 million people
who died during the genocide.
Excursion to Tuol Sleng & Cheung Ek...
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