The Khmer Empire built the temples of Angkor amid the lush forests of Cambodia nearly 900 years ago, just as a religious shift from Hinduism to Buddhism was beginning (Subscriber Exclusive)
The Khmer flourished from the ninth to the 15th centuries, its rulers presiding over a sprawling, prosperous, and sophisticated empire that stretched across much of mainland Southeast Asia, from modern-day Myanmar to Vietnam. It was linked by a network of river routes and elevated roads. Agricultural production thrived during this period, perhaps thanks to the higher temperatures and nourishing rains during the so-called Medieval Warm Period.
Angkor Wat continued to be a Hindu temple until the 1300s, when it was formally rededicated as a Buddhist site. In keeping with Buddhist tolerance for Hinduism, the iconography of its great reliefs was not demolished or replaced, although Buddhist statues were added. In the middle of the 16th century, Europeans began to arrive in Angkor—first Portuguese merchants around 1555, then missionaries bent on spreading Catholicism in the region. The Portuguese merchant and historian Diogo do Couto described how the Cambodian jungle was concealing an abandoned
This city is on the banks of the River Meccon, 170 leagues from the sea; the floodwaters and tides of the river lap the city as those of the Guadalquivir do Seville. It is marvelously constructed . . . the houses are made of stone and are very beautiful, arranged in a very orderly way along streets, and the craftsmanship of their facades and patios, halls and chambers seems Roman.
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