The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda of Cambodia

The Throne Hall

The Royal Palace is situated in Phonm Penh and was a 5 minute ride in a tuk-tuk away from our hotel so i thought i'd have a cheeky nose around. The Palace is a complex of buildings which serve as the Royal Residence of the King of Cambodia. The kings of Cambodia have occupied the grounds since the 1860's.

The Throne Hall is where the kings generals and officals used to carry out their duties, it is still used today as a place for religious and royal ceremonies (royal weddings etc). I had a look inside and the whole building was massive but you couldn't walk through much of it as it was all cordoned off, i tried to take a picture and got told off, so i headed to the next building.

The Silver Pagoda

The Silver Pagoda houses many national treasures, such as gold and jewelled Buddha statues, there was so many cabinets full of gold antiques and jewellery it was breathtaking. There is a life sized gold Buddha which is decorated with 9584 diamonds, stunning. I just wish i could of taken some pictures inside to show you all. On the floor of the Silver Pagoda is more than 5,000 silver tiles and you can hear them moving as you walk over them, but you cannot see them as the whole Pagoda is covered with red carpets.

Statues outside the Silver Pagoda

The whole area outside the Pagoda is filled with statues and small temples, most of them are dedicated to Kings. The building which surrounds the Throne and the pagoda is probably about a mile long and the whole inside is decorated with muriels and paintings, no attention to detail lost here.

Mini Angkor Wat

Also outside the pagoda is a mini version of the angkor Wat temple, which has koi carp swimming around the outside! It was a really cool place to visit and learn about the heritage of another country.


Soph