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This temple is one of the most awesome structures anyone can visit. It is very large, the enclosing rectangular wall measures 800 by 1025 metres. Around the wall is a moat some 200 metres wide. The terrain is so vast (some 208 hectares, 500 acres) that all the known wonders of the world including the St Peter cathedral of Rome and the Indonesian Borobudur could find a place on the grounds in front of the main temple, which central tower tops over 200 metres. The complex was built over a 30 to 40-year period at the start of the 12th century and is dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu. 
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The Angkor Wat temple is a classical example of the temple mountain of Mt. Meru, central in Hindu cosmology. The five towers symbolise the five mountain peaks, the grounds the world, the wall stands for the mountains at the edge of the world, the surrounding moat stand for the shore and the oceans.
You can spend days to wander al the halls and rooms of Angkor Wat. Take at least half a day to see the main parts and climb the central sanctuary and admire the view. On ground level of the main complex you will find galleries of bas-reliefs some 800 metres in length, 3 tiers high. The epic battles and events depicted here tell in great detail about the history of the various Khmer empires and their rulers. Large sections show scenes from the complex Hindu religion. Near the temples and in Siem Reap you can buy paper rubbings taken from these bas-reliefs. By the way, view them from right to left.
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As you walk around the complex you are likely to get thirsty. Don't carry refreshments all day, just buy them from the kids who will follow you carrying plastic containers way too big for them. They will ask for one or sometimes two dollars for a can of Coke, but hey, think of it as benefitting whole villages.
Smaller central tower
Angkor Wat was built using sandstone which isn't found in the immediate area. Most of it was probably taken from the the small mount of Phnom Kulen, some 30 km. to the north. The wall surrounding the temple is carved from laterite, a reddish type of stone found everywhere in the country. Laterite is soft when left in the wet ground, it hardens when dried in the sun. It is volcanic and contains large amounts of air pockets. For this reason it was rarely used for whole structures because it cannot be finely carved.
The Angkor Wat temple is a classical example of the temple mountain of Mt. Meru, central in Hindu cosmology. The five towers symbolise the five mountain peaks, the grounds the world, the wall stands for the mountains at the edge of the world, the surrounding moat stand for the shore and the oceans.
You can spend days to wander al the halls and rooms of Angkor Wat. Take at least half a day to see the main parts and climb the central sanctuary and admire the view. On ground level of the main complex you will find galleries of bas-reliefs some 800 metres in length, 3 tiers high. The epic battles and events depicted here tell in great detail about the history of the various Khmer empires and their rulers. Large sections show scenes from the complex Hindu religion. Near the temples and in Siem Reap you can buy paper rubbings taken from these bas-reliefs. By the way, view them from right to left.
Gallery Pair of apsaras
Around the temple you will find many beautiful carvings of apsaras or celestial dancers. They are depicted a bit more frivolous then the ones found on most of the other temples. They are also sculpted in twos and threes. The apsara above on the left is from the Bayon temple, the pair on the right can be found on the eastern side of the sanctuary at Angkor Wat. The carvings here are of great quality and have withstood the ages very well, some appear to have been finished only yesterday.
As you walk around the complex you are likely to get thirsty. Don't carry refreshments all day, just buy them from the kids who will follow you carrying plastic containers way too big for them. They will ask for one or sometimes two dollars for a can of Coke, but hey, think of it as benefitting whole villages.
500 Riel note
The Angkor Wat temple is the symbol of present day Cambodia. It is depicted on the national flag and on the current 500 Riel banknote, whose value is about US$ 0,20.
About
Angkor Wat is a spectacular temple in southwest Cambodia, built by the vanished Khmer empire. It was constructed during the reign of king Suryavarman II, who ruled from 1113 to at least 1145. In those days, it was customary for the Khmer Empire to maintain a state temple at the heart of the city. However, when Suryavarman assumed power, the existing Baphuon state temple was dedicated to Shiva. Suryavarman worshiped Vishnu, and wished to honor him with a new temple south of the existing capital. This new state temple came to be called Angkor Wat, meaning "The city that is a temple."
The land occupied by the temple measures 1300 meters north-south, and 1500 meters east-west. Unlike other Khmer temples, the entrance faces west toward Vishnu. A person entering the temple first approaches an entrance causeway that takes him across the 200 meter wide moat. On the opposite shore is an entrance pavilion measuring 230 meters north-south. Its central bays have three passages that elephants could fit through for royal processions. Past the entrance gate is a long causeway that runs for over 300 meters, decorated with mythical snake-like animals called naga. On either side are isolated buildings called "libraries" though their true function is unknown (image 7). Near the temple are two small pools.
The actual temple sits on a sandstone plinth a meter above the ground. Its perimeter is decorated with naga balustrades (image 18, foreground). The outer wall of the temple is called the "first enclosure," and sits on a plinth 3.3 meters high. A continuous gallery runs along the outside face of the wall (image 16). The inner face is decorated with 700 meters of continuous bas reliefs.
Just to the east of the west gate of the first enclosure is a series of four rooms arranged in a cruciform(images 22-24). Each room is surrounded by a continuous gallery and has a sunken floor where ponds used to be. The southern arm of the cross was once called the "Gallery of a thousand Buddhas" because until very recently, the Khmer faithful left Buddha statues here. Most of these were destroyed during the recent civil war. North and south of the "western cruciform" are two more "libraries."
The second enclosure rests on a base 5.8 meters high. It is linked to the Western Cruciform by a series of stairs. Inside this courtyard are still more "libraries," smaller than the previous ones.
The inner enclosure rests on a two-tiered pyramid 11 meters tall. The stairs are extremely steep (see image 31). The upper terrace has a continuous gallery that encloses an inner cruciform of four rooms. Five towers jut from the upper tier in a quincunx arrangement (like five dots on a pair of dice). The cruciform used to contain a number of separate shrines, but they look like passageways now since the wooden doors are gone. The central tower is 65 meters above ground level.