Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 2 of 2): During the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860Mouhot, Henri
History
Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 2 of 2): During the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860
Mouhot, Henri
Cambodia -- Description and travel; Khmer language; Natural history -- Indochina; Thailand -- Description and travel
Near Iheur Manone Tireada is a bridge of very ancient date, in a fair
state of preservation, excepting the parapet and a portion of the
roadway, which are a mass of ruins; but the piers and arches still
remain. The piers are formed of sandstone, some of the blocks being
long, others square, and placed irregularly; a few only are carved.
This bridge, with its fourteen narrow arches, may be about 42 or 43
metres in length, and 45 metres wide.
The river, instead of flowing under its arches, runs now along the
side, its bed having been altered by the shifting of the sand, which
has so accumulated around the piers and fallen stones, that a great
portion of the former is concealed.
This bridge must have served as a communication between Ongcor the
Great and the high road, which, traversing the province from east to
west, took afterwards a southerly direction.
PREA SAT KÉO.
Two hundred metres from the bridge rise, amidst the forest, the
imposing ruins of Prea sat Kéo, to reach which you have to cross a
deep moat. This done, you arrive at the exterior wall, which has four
entrances formed by elegant pavilions, with staircases of eight steps
leading to a terrace raised nearly 2 metres from the ground; from this
you pass into a low narrow gallery with numerous interior windows
ornamented with twisted bars. This gallery surrounds the building, and
you ascend to it by a staircase leading to a second terrace. Three
other terraces, each more than 3 metres 50 centimetres wide, rise one
above another, supported on blocks of well-cut sandstone.
Each terrace forms a perfect square, the sides of the first measuring
each 30 metres in length. A staircase, 15 metres high and 3-1/2 metres
wide, leads to the top; and a wide parapet to the staircase serves as a
pedestal for four statues of lions, more or less injured. In the centre
of the upper terrace is a lofty tower, and there are four smaller
ones at the corners. Each tower has four porticoes with staircases,
which rest on a base 7 metres high, and these towers are reached
by staircases of twenty-two steps. From them a magnificent view is
obtained over the surrounding forest. They, as well as their bases and
staircases, are built of great blocks of granite arranged in regular
tiers, and joined together in the most perfect manner. There is little
sculpture, and the doorways have been left unfinished. The towers are
without roofs, and perhaps never had any. The whole building appears
very ancient, judging by the condition of the stone, which in many
places is falling to pieces.
PONTÉEY TA PROUM.--TOWN OF TA PROUM.
RUINED TOWNS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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