Ayutthaya Historical Park
The ruin field of Siam's old capital: a UNESCO-listed set of temples destroyed in 1767.
Ruins of a capital destroyed in 1767
Ayutthaya Historical Park protects the remains of the old Siamese capital in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province. UNESCO inscribed the Historic City of Ayutthaya in 1991 under criterion (iii), as a property of 289 ha. According to UNESCO, the city was founded around 1350 as the second Siamese capital after Sukhothai, flourished from the 14th to the 18th century and was a centre of diplomacy and trade. The ruins look as they do because of 1767, when the Burmese army destroyed the city; it was never rebuilt on the site. The surviving monuments are prang, the tall reliquary towers in the Khmer manner, and the foundations of large monasteries, on an island ringed by rivers. The Fine Arts Department began renovation in 1969, and the area became a historical park in 1976. The park is best understood as a group of separate temples, not a single building. Several are inside the island, while Wat Chaiwatthanaram lies across the Chao Phraya on the west bank.
Explore Ayutthaya Historical Park on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
Along the mountain trail
These are the temples most often named in references on the park.
Within the island
- Wat Mahathat: official Thai history, based on the Royal Chronicles, dates it to about 1374. Its Khmer-style central prang collapsed in 1631 and was rebuilt at roughly 50 m, then fell again in 1911. A 1956 excavation at the prang found relics and gold Buddha images, now in the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum.
- Wat Phra Si Sanphet: built on the grounds of the old royal palace and used by the royal family. Three chedis hold the ashes of kings and a prince, built in 1492 and 1529; a giant gold-covered Buddha image installed around 1499 was destroyed in 1767.
- Wat Ratchaburana: founded in 1424 according to official Thai historiography by King Borommarachathirat II over the ashes of his brothers. Its tall prang is flanked by four chedis, and the crypt keeps rare early Ayutthaya paintings. Thieves looted the crypt in 1957, and later official excavations found three painted rooms and over 100,000 votive tablets.
On the west bank
- Wat Chaiwatthanaram: built by King Prasat Thong in 1630 in the Khmer style. A central prang about 35 m high rises from a platform with four smaller prangs and eight chedi-shaped chapels. Restoration began in 1987 and it opened to the public in 1992.
Other named monuments
- The core zone also includes Wat Phra Ram, Wat Thammikarat, Wat Lokayasutharam, Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit and Phra Chedi Suriyothai; the buffer zone includes Wat Kasattrattrathirat, Wat Phanan Choeng and Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon.
How to visit
Geography only; the sources do not give travel times.
Position
- The ruins are in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province, on and around an island where the Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak rivers meet.
- The modern town is a few kilometres east of the old city.
- One reference places the city about 64 km north of Bangkok.
Good to know
Points that follow from the history.
Good to Know
- The temples are largely brick ruins with some stucco, not intact buildings, because of the 1767 destruction.
- Part of the site is a restoration. The three Phra Si Sanphet chedis were restored in 1956 and Chaiwatthanaram from 1987.
- The UNESCO area is 289 ha, and some well-known temples are listed in a buffer zone, not the core.
- Dates for the founding vary slightly: UNESCO says around 1350, and other references say 1351.
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