I. to III - Western Front of Nakhon Wat.<BR> <BR> Nakhon Wat, or Temple of the Capital, the greatest of the Cambodian antiquities, is situate in the province of Siamrap, about 5 miles north of the town Siamrapburee. Like the majority of the buildings in Inthapatapuri and the other ruined cities of Cambodia, it is raised upon a stone socle. It rises from base in three quadrangular tiers, the apex of the great central tower having an elevation of 180 feet. The outer boundary wall encloses nearly a square space measuring about three-fourth of a mile each way, and is surrounded by a ditch 230 feet broad. This is crossed on the west by a raised stone causeway, having pillars on either side, and exquisitely sculptured flights of steps communicating with the water. <BR> Facing the cardinal points of the compass, and in the centre of each side of the boundary wall, there are long galleries with arched roofs and monolithic pillars, presenting a striking and classical appearance. Entering the main gateway through the western boundary, and passing up a broad inner causeway, paved, like the outer one, with blocks of polished freestone, we approach the western front of the temple shewn in the photograph. Ascending to a cruciform terrace by a flight of steps, sculptured with the most beatiful ornaments, and guarded on either side by colossal stone lions, we stand before the principal entrance of the temple. This front is over 600 feet long. About a third of its entire length is walled-in in the centre, and divided into compartments lighted with windows having seven ornamental stone bars. The floral patterns on these bars are as carefullly repeated as if they had been cast from a single mould, or turned by machinery. These apartments occur in the centre of all galleries, and may have been intended for the shelter and accommodation of the priests. The remaining two-thirds of the gallery, as may be seen from the photograph, consist of open colonnades, the back walls if wich are adored with the exquisite bas-relief representations that form one of the chief attractions of Nakhon Wat.<BR> The hut on the left represents the dwelling of one of the modern priests attached to the temple. They were placed there after the rediscovery of the temple in 1570. The nomination of the abbots for the temple is now in the hands of the governor of Siamrapburee.*<BR> <BR> *Dr. Bastian, Geographical Society, 13th February 1865<BR> in: Album "The antiquities of Cambodia a series of photographs taken on the spot With Letterpress Description By John Thomson, F.R.G.S., F.E.S.L., Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas MDCCCLXVII"; opgenomen in KIT Library ILS (RF-279) page 21.