Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site

Official name

Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape | UNESCO

Country

Laos | Map

Continent

Asia

Location

Champasak Province
14.8483° Lat, 105.8222° Lon | Map

Code

481

Time Zone

Asia/Vientiane (+07, +0700)

Current Time

Category

Cultural

Description

Inscribed 2001. The Champasak cultural landscape, including the Vat Phou Temple complex, is a remarkably well-preserved planned landscape more than 1,000 years old. It was shaped to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity, using an axis from mountain top to river bank to lay out a geometric pattern of temples, shrines and waterworks extending over some 10 km. Two planned cities on the banks of the Mekong River are also part of the site, as well as Phou Kao mountain. The whole represents a development ranging from the 5th to 15th centuries, mainly associated with the Khmer Empire.