Angkor
| Introduction | Architecture | Religion | Downfall | Present Situation|
Deep within the thick Cambodian jungle lies a city that once flourished with life. Forgotten to civilization for 400 years it has been slowly disappearing due to the encroaching jungle, thick vines and plants covering all parts of it. It is a magnificent ancient city covering 124 square miles called Angkor...
"What strikes the observer with not less admiration than the grandeur, regularity, and beauty of these majestic building, is the immense size and prodigious number of the blocks of stone of which they are constructed. In this temple alone are as many as 1532 columns. What means of transport, what a multitude of workmen, must this have required, seeing that the mountain out of which the stone was hewn is thirty miles distant!"
Wrote Henri Mouhot in January of 1860 as he discovered Angkor. The word "discovered" may be inappropriate since encounters with Angkor occurred well before his time. In 1550 Angkor was mentioned by a Portuguese historian, during the 16 th and 17 th centuries several Spanish books mentioned it and in 1819 a French scholar translated an account of Angkor written by Zhou Daguan, a 13 th century diplomat.
It was Mouhot's journal and his illustrations that credit him with the discovery of Angkor. Sadly, Mouhot died November 10, 1861 of tropical fever before he got recognized for his discovery. His brother published his journal, which gave rise to a fascination with the city and many people went to uncover its secrets...