ANGKOR  , an assemblage of ruins in

Cambodia, the relic of the ancient Khmer civilization . They are situated in forests to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle-Sap), the most conspicuous ANGLE of the remains being the town of Angkor-Thom and the temple of Angkor-Vat, both of which lie on the right bank of the river Siem-Reap, a tributary of Tonle-Sap . Other remains of the same form and character lie scattered about the vicinity on both banks of the river, which is crossed by an ancient stone bridge . Angkor-Thom lies about a quarter of a mile from the river . According to Aymonier it was begun about A . D . 86o, in the reign of the Khmer sovereign Jayavarman III., and finished towards A.D . 900 . It consists of a rectangular enclosure, nearly 2 M. in each direction, surrounded .by a wall from 20 to 30 ft. in height . Within the enclosure, which is entered by five monumental gates, are the remains of palaces and temples, overgrown by the forest . The chief of these are: (1) The vestiges of the royal palace, which stood within an enclosure containing also the pyramidal religious structure known as the Phimeanakas . To the east of this enclosure there extends a terrace decorated with magnificent reliefs .

(2) The temple of Bayon, a square enclosure formed by galleries with colonnades, within which is another and more elaborate

system of galleries, rectangular in arrangement and enclosing a cruciform structure, at the centre of which rises a huge tower with a circular base . Fifty towers, decorated with quadruple faces of Brahma, are built at intervals upon the galleries, the whole temple ranking as perhaps the most remarkable of the Khmer remains . Angkor-Vat, the best preserved example of Khmer architecture, lies less than a mile to the south of the royal city, within a rectangular park surrounded by a moat, the outer perimeter of which measures 6o6o yds . On the west side of the park a paved causeway, leading over the moat and under a magnificent portico, extends for a distance of a quarter of a mile to the chief entrance of the main building . The temple was originally devoted to the worship of Brahma, but afterwards to that of Buddha; its construction is assigned by Aymonier to the first half of the 12th century A.D . It consists of three stages, connected by numerous exterior staircases and decreasing in dimensions as they rise, culminating in the sanctuary, a great central tower pyramidal in form . Towers also surmount the angles of the terraces of the two upper stages . Three galleries with vaulting supported on columns lead from the three western portals to the second stage . They are connected by a transverse gallery, thus forming four square basins . Khmer decoration, profuse but harmonious, consists chiefly in the representation of gods, men and animals, which are displayed on every flat surface . Combats and legendary episodes are often depicted; floral decoration is reserved chiefly for borders, mouldings and capitals . Sandstone of various colours was the chief material employed by the Khmers; limonite was also used .

The stone was cut into huge blocks which are fitted together with great accuracy without the use of

cement . See E . Aymonier, Le Cambodge (3 vols., 1900–1904) ; Doudart de Lagree, Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine (1872–1873); A . H . Mouhot, Travels in Indo-China, Cambodia and Laos (2 vets., 1864) ; Fournereau and Porcher, Les Ravines d'Angkor (189o) ; L . Delaporte, Voyage an Cambodge: l'architecture Khmer (188o); J . Moura, Le Royaume de Cambodge (2 vols., 1883) .