Explore Ayutthaya

Wat Ratchaburana is a ruined royal temple in the Ayutthaya Historical Park, founded in 1424 by King Borommarachathirat II on the site where his two elder brothers were cremated after dying in an elephant duel for the throne. Its restored central prang keeps stucco garudas and nagas, and a crypt with early Ayutthaya murals reached by steep stairs.

Wat Mahathat, the Temple of the Great Relic, is a ruined royal temple in the centre of Ayutthaya, founded in the late 14th century and destroyed when the Burmese sacked the city in 1767. Its grounds hold the base of the collapsed central prang, smaller brick prangs, rows of headless Buddha images and a stone Buddha head enclosed by the roots of a fig tree.

Wat Phanan Choeng is a working Buddhist temple on the east bank where the Pa Sak meets the Chao Phraya, south-east of Ayutthaya's old city, founded in 1324, before the city itself. Its tall wihan houses Luang Pho To, a gilded seated Buddha about 19 metres high revered by Thai-Chinese worshippers as Sam Pao Kong; Admiral Zheng He visited in 1407.

Wat Na Phra Men is a working temple on the north bank of the old city moat, opposite the former royal palace of Ayutthaya, and the only temple in the city left standing after the Burmese sack of 1767, when their army camped here. Its large Ayutthaya-style ordination hall holds a crowned bronze Buddha, and a smaller hall keeps a seated stone Buddha, Phra Khanthararat.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet was the royal temple within the grounds of the old Royal Palace of Ayutthaya, used for royal ceremonies and without resident monks, until the Burmese destroyed the city in 1767. Its three bell-shaped chedis, built in the late 15th century to hold royal ashes, stand in a row among the brick foundations of the former halls.

Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit is a Buddhist assembly hall in the Ayutthaya Historical Park, just south of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, built to shelter Phra Mongkhon Bophit. The seated Buddha, about 13 metres high, is made of brick and bronze and covered in gold leaf; the hall is an active place of worship where visitors leave offerings.

Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon is a working Buddhist monastery south-east of Ayutthaya's old city island, founded in 1357 by King U Thong as Wat Pa Kaeo. Its large bell-shaped chedi was raised under King Naresuan to mark his victory over the Burmese crown prince in 1592; galleries of seated Buddha images and a reclining Buddha surround it.

Wat Lokayasutharam is a ruined temple on the western side of Ayutthaya's old city island, behind the site of the former royal palace. Its main feature is a reclining Buddha of brick and stucco about 37 metres long and 8 metres high, lying in the open on a low platform, often draped in saffron cloth, beside the remains of a prang and assembly halls.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a royal temple on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, south-west of Ayutthaya's old city island, built in 1630 by King Prasat Thong in Khmer style. A 35-metre central prang with four smaller prangs rises from a platform ringed by eight chedi-shaped chapels; the Fine Arts Department has restored the ruins since 1987.

Bang Pa-In Royal Palace is a former royal summer residence beside the Chao Phraya River in Bang Pa-in District, about 15 km south of Ayutthaya. First built by King Prasat Thong in 1632, it was rebuilt mostly between 1872 and 1889 under King Chulalongkorn, with Thai, Chinese and European buildings set in gardens and ponds, including a pavilion in the middle of a pond.