If you quizzed an average person about Cambodia, they might possibly have heard of two things. The first is (maybe) the Khmer Rouge. The second (probably) is Angkor Wat.
(Entrance Gate, Angkor Thom)
Angkor Wat, while a place, is also a bit of a misnomer. There is a place called Angkor Wat located in a larger place called Angkor, which has a multiplicity of surviving archaeological sites. In some cases, those sites maybe be attributed (incorrectly) to Angkor Wat.
(Bayon Wat)
The history of Angkor actually predates the city, when the Khmer King Jayavarman II established the Khmer Kingdom in A.D. 802 by declaring independence from Mataram Kingdom located on Java, uniting portion of the country we now know as Cambodia (up to the then-border with China) and parts of what are now Vietnam (Champa). The capitol he built was named Haiharalya; circa A.D. 889, his successor Yasovarman I ascended to the throne and moved the capitol to a new location he called Yasodharapura, which we now know as Angkor.
(Bas relief, Bayon Wat)
Following its founding, the location continued to serve at the capitol of the Khmer Empire until A.D. 1431. Within its confines, which are now estimated to included (with urban sprawl) to have been almost 1000 sq. km/390 sq miles), a multiplicity of governmental/religious sites were built. Currently there are over 700 sites known, 72 of which are within 24 km x 8 km (15 mile x 5 mile) area.
(Bayon Wat)
In terms of size, it is now estimated that (with supporting agricultural lands) it was the same size as modern urban Paris and supported a population of between 750,000 and 1,000,000 during its height. It is now estimated to be the largest city prior to the industrial revolution.
(Bayon Wat)
The city's use of stone eclipses that of all the stone used in all known Egyptian structures combined.
(Elephant Terrace)
What remains unseen from the usual set of pictures (but is revealed via satellite imagery and on the ground observations) are a sophisticated set of canals and reservoirs that were used to manage the waters brought on from the monsoon climate of Cambodia. It is also theorized that these canals were used to ship the stone required to build the various temples and monuments over the 600 year period of its history.
(Elephant Terrace)
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