Angkor Thom, or the Great City, was the last and most glorious capital of Khmer Empire. It was founded at the end of the twelfth century by king Jayavarman VII on a place that had several statues afore. Its modern name is known from the 16th century. In the center of it, there was the main state temple called Bayon. Being a part of great building program of Jayavarman, the city had a lot of beautiful temples. There are some pre-capital period ones like Baphuon and Phimeanakas that became a part of Royal Palace. The last known temple, Mangalartha, was built back in 1295. There were also some later buildings, but they, being badly constructed, haven’t survived.
The city was known as the capital until the year of 1609 when it was abandoned. It had population from 80 to 150 thousands of people.
Nowadays the city is located in 7 km from Siem Reap and less than 2 km to the north from the Angkor Wat entrance. It has walls which are 8 meters high and 3 km long each, surrounded by moat. The giant faces on 23 meters entrance towers, represent, by different views, king himself, guardians of Empire or something else.
The city had its own system of canals through which water run from northeast to southwest. Some part of the inner city, surrounded by walls, previously had civil buildings that were ruined in later centuries. Today, there is only a forest.
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