Nearly 1.4 million people plan to trek to Cambodia’s 900-year-old Angkor Wat temple complex this year, but 68 miles northeast is a site once considered “the center of the Angkorian world,” says archaeologist Sarah Klassen. Koh Ker, home to Cambodia’s largest pyramid, is the country’s newest addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List and one of the nation’s many historically significant archaeological marvels often missed by travelers. Here are four lesser known sites built by the prosperous Khmer Empire during its heyday from the ninth to the 15th centuries.
The rise of Angkor and the Khmer Empire Founded around A.D. 802, the Khmer Empire grew to become one of the most influential in Southeast Asia, spanning from modern-day Vietnam to Myanmar. It was ruled by a dynasty of powerful god-kings from the capital of Angkor, home to the 400-acre Angkor Wat complex. Featuring elaborately carved spires, elevated towers, covered galleries, and spacious courtyards, the 12th-century “temple-mountain” is one of the world’s largest religious structures and is Cambodia’s most renowned sacred site—so much so that it appears on the nation’s flag.
“The ability to harness all of the people that would have been required to build something like the big monument at Angkor is really spectacular,” says Klassen, who is the co-director of the Cambodian Archaeological Lidar Initiative and director of the Koh Ker Archaeological Project, adding that these structures are “a testament to the power and wealth” of the civilization.
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Due to Southeast Asia’s protracted dry season, a sophisticated system of reservoirs and canals was also integral to governance. “Water management was closely associated and tied to kingship,” says Klassen, who points out that the empire’s failing water system likely contributed to its eventual downfall.
Koh Ker, the Cambodian temple complex awarded UNESCO status in 2023, includes the seven tiered pyramid, Prasat Prang. Standing at 115 feet, it is the tallest pyramid in the nation.
Photograph by Anna Mazurek
Koh Ker
Prasat Prang, Cambodia’s largest pyramid, is the centerpiece of Koh Ker, a former capital of Angkor. “It’s the only other site to have that [position] other than Angkor itself, but it only lasted for 16 years,” says Klassen. The shift of power back to Angkor is one of the mysteries researchers like Klassen are still investigating about Koh Ker.
Built by King Jayavarman IV, the 10th-century Shiva complex is known for its abundant linga carvings (short cylindrical, pillar-like symbols of the deity). According to Ea Darith, director of the Department of Monuments and Archaeology at the National Authority for Preah Vihear, more than 20 temples house linga, not only the pyramid.
Due to its proximity to quarries, everything at Koh Ker—the 115-foot-tall pyramid, lintels, and statues—is more elaborate than those at Angkor. “Big monolithic stones were first used at Koh Ker,” says Darith. Travelers can pair a visit with the nearby Beng Mealea, a 12th-century Hindu complex built in the same style as the Angkor Wat.
Sambor Prei Kuk, a UNESCO-designated site, features over 180 individual brick temples devoted to the Hindu god Shiva. These pre-Angkorian temples represent the tallest and most extensive brick towers in the country.
Photograph by Anna Mazurek
Sambor Prei Kuk
The Sambor Prei Kuk complex features over 180 brick temples with Hindu iconography scattered through a dense forest in eastern Cambodia. “[It] was the head of a network of various pre-Angkorian settlements spread across Cambodia but interconnected by the waterways,” says Siem Reap-based archaeologist David Brotherson.
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Three temple groups feature a central tower on a platform surrounded by smaller structures, which Darith says “are considered the highest and biggest brick towers in Cambodia.”
Constructed by various Khmer monarchs during the 10th to 12th centuries,
Preah Vihear is distinguished by five pavilions erected along a half-mile linear causeway.
Photograph by Anna Mazurek
Preah Vihear
Perched on a dizzying 2,000-foot-high escarpment on the Dângrêk Range at the Thailand border, this 10th-12th-century Shiva temple was a royal pilgrimage site. “It’s the geographic setting that sets it apart completely,” Brotherson says.
A half-mile-long linear causeway connects five pavilions “built completely out of sandstone,” says Darith, noting that the stone was sourced from quarries on the mountain. Visitors can book a motorcycle ($5) or 4WD pickup truck ($25) for the four mile between the ticket center and the temple.
Located in western Cambodia, Banteay Chhmar is of one the largest temple complexes in Cambodia. Built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, it features the same enigmatic face-towers as the Bayon, one of his other famous Buddhist temples in Angkor.
Photograph by Anna Mazurek
Since the 1998 looting of Banteay Chhmar, one of the most infamous antiquities thefts in Cambodian history, the main temple remains largely unrestored.
Photograph by Anna Mazurek
Banteay Chhmar
Built by King Jayavarman VII, the primary temple in this remote 12th-century site is one of Cambodia’s most extensive. It features elements from more famous Buddhist temples, such as Bayon’s face-towers and narrative bas-reliefs, Ta Prohm’s wild tree roots, Preah Khan’s elaborate balustrades, and an intricately carved 32-armed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva adorning the western wall.
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Brotherson says the strategic western Cambodia location was “to project the royal power authority” to rivals. “It’s largely unrestored,” he adds. “You’re going to have that full-on ‘Tomb Raider’ jungle-temple experience.”
Several companies, such as the Banteay Chhmar Community-Based Tourism group, offer off-the-beaten-path tours to the satellite temples hidden within the jungle.
Anna Mazurek is a freelance travel writer and photographer based between Austin, Texas and Southeast Asia. Follow her on Instagram.
