While, somewhat sadly, we don’t have any surviving ancient Khmer texts apart from inscriptions what we do have are the accounts of the traveling diplomats such as China’s Zhou Daguan in the 13th century followed by Japanese pilgrims in the 17th century and then French explorers in the 19th century. One of those French explorers was Francis Garnier, a naval officer who assembled a crew that would be led by Captain Ernest Doudart De Lagrée to chart and document the Mekong River and its peoples.
On that journey covered mostly by boat and by foot on land, they would cover 10,000 km including parts of present-day Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma, China, and Cambodia. What we’ll focus on today is the part of the journey that began from a base in Phnom Penh, sailing the Mekong River to the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) to see the ruins of Angcor known to be located to its northwest.
The exploration team included De Lagrée (Ernest), Garnier (Francis), Delaporte (Louis), Joubert (Eugène), Thorel (Clovis), De Carné (Louis), Om (Alexis) who was their Cambodian interpreter, Sergeant Charbonnier, another interpreter, two French sailors, two Filipino sailors, a sergeant and six Vietnamese. The complete journey was published in the 500 plus page tome, Voyage d’exploration en Indo-Chine, 1866, by Francis Garnier.
Having well-traversed the many temples in Angkor today, I find it fascinating to step back in time and build a better picture of what it may have been like in earlier times and the French notes such as this do just that. The publication is full of little nuggets and I will quote many of the highlights, break them into chunks making it easier to digest, along with adding modern names for locations/items in brackets where needed.
Let’s start with their landing at Siem Reap on the Tonle Sap
While following during this short trip the capricious meanders of the river, one sees little by little the trees emerge from the water, their trunks appear, the ground finally emerging. However, the waters were not yet high enough to go up by boat to the new town of Angcor, a large town called today Siemréap by the inhabitants and where the governor of the province resides.The Commission (the exploration team) resolved to take the land road, which is practicable from the point where the boats at the lowest water stop, that is to say, two or three kilometers from the mouth of the river and which is much more direct.
The means of transport, chariots and elephants, requested from the governor of Angcor, arrived on the morning of the 24th, and enabled us to continue our journey that same day.
Coming out of the flooded forest which covers the shores of the lake, one finds oneself in the middle of an immense plain cultivated in rice fields, and the landscape seems to differ in no way from the monotonous aspects to which a long stay in Cochinchina is accustomed; but no sooner have you taken a few steps than you discover vestiges of the ancient Khmer civilization around you: you are immediately transported in your imagination to the distant time when this civilization extended over all of Indo-China. meridionale its powerful influence the places that we visit, however banal they may be from elsewhere, take on a very special charm in your eyes.
First of all, there are the remains of the old causeway that led to Angcor the Great (Angkor). To the west of this road and a short distance away, at the very foot of Mount Crôm (Phnom Krom), we find traces of old buildings. If, guided by these debris, we climb to the top of this small hill, we discover a sanctuary whose appearance cannot be missed.
They describe reaching Phnom Coulen (Koulen Mountain or Phnom Kulen) and locating the quarries which provided the sandstone for the ancient monuments
Traces of iron remain visible everywhere, and the exploitation methods employed can be studied on the fragments which have been half detached and which have remained in place. A few instruments found here and there, of which the inhabitants can still explain the use, complete and shed light on these clues. We can thus recognize how the workers went about obtaining these magnificent stone parallelepipeds found in Khmer monuments.
On materials used to construct temples
Bien-hoa stone (laterite), Cambodians give it the name of bai kriem “grilled rice” because of its color and its clumpy appearance. It is extremely widespread throughout the river valley. Thirty kilometers east of Angcor, near the village of Ben, it appears level with the ground, and in this direction forms enormous banks of ten to fifteen kilometers in extent. It offers many varieties both in terms of the mode of agglomeration as in that of the color. ….. Bai kriem is used in the construction of causeways, the perimeter walls of rough buildings, and serves as an interior filling in the substructures and in the large massifs of the main monuments.
Sandstone. the gray or slightly pink sandstones, in use in ancient Cambodian architecture, are of a fine grain which makes them susceptible to a perfect polish. Like all sandstones, they are tender to quarry pruning and harden in the air, but not enough to withstand the alternating action of rain and drought, which over time crumbles them and sometimes flakes them apart. thin. Sandstone in Cambodia bears the name thma phâc, which means “stone of mud”.
On the Khmer technique of polychroming
Most of the statues were painted or gilded; it was the same with certain sculptures, or with certain columns placed at the entrance to the sanctuaries. For this purpose, the stone was covered with a resinous black varnish, which Cambodians still use today under the name of mereach and which is made with stick-lac; on this first layer one applied the vermilion, then the gilding, or the first color only. When the statues were to be exposed to the air, a paste of ash was mixed with the mereach, so as to give the varnish a thickness of 4 to 5 millimeters. In the monuments of the decadence or in the restorations made in a relatively modern period, the stones of which the large-scale statues are composed no longer represent the general shape. They are covered with a thick layer of prepared lime, to which the final shape is given and on which the paint is then applied.
On post-Angkor era restorations
After the abandonment of Angcor as the capital of the kingdom, the piety of kings and peoples had, in fact, more than once to raise the temples and replace the statues destroyed during wars or invasions.
On the ancient road network
These causeways, less elegant than those we have described as integral parts of Cambodian monuments, were three or four meters high and about forty meters wide at the base. These were the only easily passable roads, during the rainy days, in a lowland country that is almost completely under water for several months of the year. They were sometimes formed of two distinct courses set back one on the other; from distance to distance, at the lowest points, passages were made for water and the two parts of the road were joined by a bridge. The Sra (basin) that we find on the route of these roads undoubtedly indicate the stopping places of the merchants and the position of the main villages: in their vicinity we find most often the ruins of a small enclosure or of a sanctuary. When a causeway served as an enclosure either for a town or for a large edifice, it was narrower; some appear to have been supported by stone walls; others may have had a crown wall.
On the earliest European knowledge of Angkor
We find, in fact, in the “Relation des missions des Evêques Français,” the following mention of it (Angkor Wat), around 1666, by Father Chevreuil, missionary in Cambodia: “There is a very old and very famous temple, about eight days away from the people where I live. This temple is called Onco (sic) and is as famous among the Gentiles of five or six great kingdoms as St. Peter of Rome.
The book continues on with introductions to Phnom Krom, Wat Athvea, Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, Roluos Group, Beng Melea, and Preah Khan of Kampong Svay.
On Phnom Krom
He describes Phnom Krom much as we know it today except to add
On either side of the main entrance there are two small brick pyramids of modern construction outside. The second summit of Mount Crôm, stripped of all vegetation, supports a brick pyramid of also recent date, which can be seen from a great distance. Between the two peaks, at the lowest point of the ridge line, is a small brick pagoda which is of no interest.
On Wat Athvear
A few hundred meters from the right bank of the Angcor river, about six kilometers north-west of Mount Crôm, rises the tower of Athvéa. You enter from the east into its only enclosure, but the facade and the main entrance are on the west side. This whole is built on a high base and is flanked by two side sanctuaries beautiful colonnade leading from the door of the tower towards the large entrance which is itself a separate monument. Two of the columns bear inscriptions.
On Angkor Wat
He describes in detail crossing the moat, the western gopura, outer wall, and on entering the temple grounds he continues
As soon as one has crossed the central entrance and returned by three steps to the stone pavement which continues inside the enclosure, the temple appears to be seen, at a distance of more than 400 meters, raising its nine towers, some of which are – some are unfortunately almost entirely ruined, above the clumps of palm trees which shade the facade. The roadway, on which we are still walking, is about a meter above the ground; it is stared every 50 meters in small platforms decorated at the projecting angles with stone dragons with seven heads
At the height of the third of these platforms, we pass between two sanctuaries with quadruple entry and interior colonnade which the vegetation has completely invaded. Immediately afterwards begin on both sides of the causeway two Sra or basins, lined with sandstone, where innumerable water lilies grow; they extend to the esplanade which extends in front of the building. In the center of this esplanade, and in the axis of the road, rises a magnificent terrace in the shape of a Latin cross; it is supported by ninety-eight admirably chiseled round columns
West Gopura 
Library 
Main entry 
He continues to describe Angkor Wat much as we all know it today including the bas-relief galleries etc., so we will rejoin him as he approaches the Bakan (third level)
Twelve staircases of forty-two steps lead to it. The gallery which crowns it is, like the preceding one, topped with towers at the angles; it is formed, externally by a wall cut with windows, internally by a double colonnade; perpendicular galleries start from the middle of each face and at their intersection rises the central tower which is 56 meters high above the roadway by which we arrived. At the base of this tower is a quadruple sanctuary.
Small peristyles with round columns open on each side of the median galleries onto the four small courtyards which they provide inside the upper floor. Finally, at the foot of the main staircase, the one in the middle of the west face, are two small kiosks of lesser importance than those we have already encountered. They seem to be placed there only to bring out the height and the beautiful proportions of the central building.
Whatever the point from which one approaches the building, one finds oneself involuntarily carried and guided towards one of the large statues which occupy the faces of the central tower and look at the cardinal points.
The base of the corner towers is empty and is only the very slightly widened crossing point of the neighboring galleries. The beautiful entrance buildings built between the first and second floors go unnoticed: all the galleries that surround them are full-walled on the side facing them. The powerful moldings of the base of the central building, the steep and high steps of the great staircases, the lions of decreasing size which frame them increase the effect of perspective and the sensation of height. We approach the sanctuary, and the decoration increases in richness. The chisel digs deeper into the stone, the colonnades are doubled, sculptural wonders explode everywhere, traces of gilding become visible in the hollows of the stone.
What admirable arabesques (foliage decoration) stand out on these pilasters which frame the very doors of the sanctuary! On both sides, the general design appears symmetrical; but we approach and we see the most pleasant variety in the details. Each of these graceful intertwining, of these capricious drawings, seems to be the work of a unique artist, who, in composing his work, did not wish to borrow anything from the neighboring work; each of these stone pages is the fruit of a delicate and original inspiration, and not the skilful reproduction of a uniform model.
Vigorous vegetation emerges through the cracks in the stone: the plant gradually becomes a gigantic tree; its powerful roots, like a wedge which penetrates ever further, disjoint, shake and overturn enormous blocks which seemed to defy all human efforts ….
Some parts of the bas-reliefs in the south gallery are completely unrecognizable today, thanks to the infiltration of water along the internal wall; the north gallery is so invaded by bats, the droppings with which they cover the ground are in such considerable quantity, that this part of the monument is almost inaccessible. ….
The west statue of the sanctuary has been rebuilt and re-painted. Other restorations had been attempted before this time, especially in the median galleries of the central building. Some of the fallen columns have been replaced by others taken from various parts of the monument; we tried to consolidate the peristyles and replace the architraves. But if piety had remained, the architects and artists had already disappeared: we no longer knew how to maneuver these heavy masses, and we hardly succeeded in putting a round column, the capital down, in the middle of columns awkwardly. square, or to turn upside down a badly seated entablature on two unequal columns.
Angcor Wat does not appear to be mentioned in the Chinese description, translated by Abel Rémusat, which is the most complete document that we have on this destroyed civilization, unless it is necessary to recognize in this temple “the tomb of Lou- pan, with an enclosure of about ten li, and located one li from the south gate”
In any case, the very character of the architecture, the imperfection and the incompleteness of certain details allow us to think that this monument is one of the most recent works of Khmer architecture. While the nearby ruins had long been completely abandoned, it still remained the object of general veneration.
On Phnom Bakheng
Garnier describes much of what we see today, the lions and the ruinous staircase at the foot of the mountain, and atop the mountain, the Buddhapada imprint, an array of late-era statuary, the surrounding brick shrines, and the main stepped structure with as described at that time the completely collapsed remains of what would have been the central shrine and two others.
An interesting comment comes towards the end where he believes he has located a temple mentioned by Zhou Daguan (the Chinese diplomat who spent a year in Angkor around the 13th century)
….we leave to the left, a short distance, a path that goes around the mountain and leads to three brick towers with sandstone doors. In one of them, one notices one of these deep holes, indicated in the preceding chapter as having been used as burial. By its position, this tower seems to be the one of which the Chinese author mentioned above speaks and of which he says that, according to tradition, it was built by Lou-pan in the space of one night.
On Angkor Thom
Describing the gates of Angkor Thom, what a sight they must have been at that time!
In the middle of the west, north and south sides are monumental doors that amaze with their size and the powerful originality of ornamentation and design. The east side has two which divide it into three equal parts. We can safely place these five doors among the most beautiful works of Khmer architecture.
The considerable void of angles of the massif and the gallery is filled with three colossal heads of stone elephants, which rest on their trunks as on three columns. The base of these columns is formed naturally from the end of the trunk, which curves and rejects lotus branches. Above the door, rise a central tower and two lower side towers, which all come out of the same base, and end in a tapered point. On each of the four faces of these towers looms a large human figure with serious lines. According to the Chinese description, a fifth head, surmounted by a golden tiara, crowned the towers. At their base, are carved characters in high relief.
Describing the grand causeways preceding the gates of Angkor Thom, interestingly he mentions the west gate and east gate (Gate of the Dead) as being in superior condition to that of the south.
In front of the south gate, the upheaval of the ground is such that it is difficult to reconstruct, using the accumulated debris, the stone bridge which once crossed the ditch. To understand the details of its construction, you have to go to the west door or the south-east door where some parts of the apron have remained standing and intact. ; It is a wide road of 15 and a half meters and pierced at the base of narrow openings for the circulation of water from the ditch. On either side of this causeway are fifty-four seated giants facing outward. With their knees and their arms, they support a long stone cord, carved in the shape of a snake. This new kind of balustrade ends in seven or nine heads, straightened in a fan the entrance to the bridge. The giants that are closest to the gate are higher than the others and have multiple-sided heads or multiple heads.
At the south-eastern gate, they represent figures with severe faces, covered with rich clothes and the tiara on their heads. At the western gate, there are Yaks (Asuras) with grimacing faces, wide mouths, prominent eyes. About twenty are still standing; but most of them are beheaded. Small walls perpendicular to the enclosure seem to have once connected the bridge to the city wall. Their aim was no doubt, by preventing traffic on the berm, to prevent the door from being attacked by surprise. In the interior of the massif of some of the doors, one still sees strong wooden sleepers resting on the cornice and having had to support a ceiling; finally, inside the doors, Bien-hoa (laterite) stone steps lead on each side to the top of the glacis.
After passing through Angkor Thom’s south gate and encountering what we call today Preah En Tep just before the Bayon
Most of the monuments inside the city are grouped towards the center. When we have crossed the southern gate, we travel about 1,500 meters in the north direction without encountering anything other than a few isolated stones. At this point, one reached a small hamlet composed of four or five huts, and one has in front of one the low enclosure of an old pagoda and a colossal statue of Buddha, around which the piety of the natives grouped the remains of other statues. Passing this pagoda and leaving the path to enter the forest straight ahead, you arrive at the monument of Baion (Bayon), the most beautiful and the largest in the city.
On the Bayon Temple
He describes it much as we know it today
…by crossing the remains of a stone wall of Bien-hoa (laterite) and climbing heaps of collapsed stones. It is a building with crossed galleries, but it presents a remarkable peculiarity. In the center and from the center in the four cardinal directions, there are two superimposed galleries. This arrangement, complicated by numerous intersections of galleries, makes this monument a sort of labyrinth very difficult to describe and which only several combined drawings could interpret. ……
Above the galleries, we find ourselves on a large terrace where the view is truly extraordinary. In a tight space, you can see forty-two towers of various sizes rising around you. In the middle is a taller central tower. Each of these towers bears four human faces of colossal dimensions, which face the cardinal points. You have to do it several times to count these turns and understand how they are grouped. The central tower is an architectural marvel of the first order.
Again, Garnier references the works of Zhou Daguan
It is probably this singular building that the Chinese author already quoted intended to describe in the following lines: “In one part of the city, there is a golden tower, surrounded by twenty other stone towers and more than a hundred houses. also in stone, all facing east. There is also a gold bridge and two lion figures, made of the same metal to the right and left of the bridge. We also see a golden statue of Buddha…”
After leaving Bayon and heading north they come across what could only be what we know today as Preah Ngok
Leaving Baion (Bayon) and continuing to follow the path that goes north, we leave a second on the left, then a third statue of Buddha near which are two small ruined buildings. What remains of one appears to be the base of a destroyed tower; in the other, we find only a section of wall with windows, leaning against the small enclosure which surrounds the statue; towards the southwest corner of this enclosure, there is a stone embedded in the ground, on which is an inscription in old Khmer characters.
Continuing on, they come across Baphoun, the terraces, and the Royal Palace, describing them much as we see them today. He goes on to mention Prasat Sour Prat towers and the North and South Khleang, and the surrounding basins
If you go east from the central steps, you cross a sort of clearing more than 100 meters wide, beyond which the forest begins again. On the edge, behind the first trees, we see a long series of large stone towers of Rien-hoa: there are ten, rows in a north and south line, and two others located, behind and in the center of this line. Two very elongated rectangular buildings, the destination of which is unknown, rise behind and at the ends. The locals call them the Stores. They might be right. These buildings appear to have been carefully closed. They had two floors, and no space was wasted there; on the outside there is no unnecessary decoration. Behind each of them stretches an enclosure; in that which corresponds to the northern store is a sandstone tower, and further back is a second enclosure, which contains four small aedicules, also built of sandstone. Within the walls of the south building. in front of the door, are the remains of a colonnade. Between the two buildings, behind the two central towers, are Sra (basin) with stone steps. ….
From there, Preah Pithu group, describing the terraces of Kor Sak and Duan Mea temple, the basin to the north, and fascinatingly the mound at its northeast corner which has been a been a location of my own intrigue for sometime
….we leave a low wall on the left, the destination of which would have to be studied, and we arrive in the presence of a small belvedere with round columns serving as an entrance to an enclosure inside which is a tower in sandstone. To the north and to the left of this building, is an isolated belvedere, of larger dimensions and of remarkable beauty; still further north is a second edifice, with a sandstone tower, and a large piece of water with stone steps in a very good state of preservation. At the corner N.-E. of this basin, is a considerable mass of raised grounds on which must have existed a pagoda. There is indeed the base of an old statue, a Neac Ta and a pagoda terminal. All around are Sra of varying sizes. Finally, to the right in the forest, is a third building, larger than the other two. This set of ruins forms the group called Prea Pithu by the locals.
On Preah Khan
One can see that it’s early days in the understanding and accessing of all the temples and that Preah Khan was no longer in use in any way by that time.
Outside the city, on the west side, tradition does not indicate any monument; to the north, the inhabitants cite one, the residence of Preacan, which is not far from the northeast corner; access is easy, they say, from the east side; arrived by the west face, we could not find any path to penetrate there. On this last face is a beautiful door with three towers and preceded by a bridge decorated with giants similar to those of the west door of the city, but smaller.
On Ta Keo
Takeo or Ponteay Keo [Ponteay or Bonteay means fortress, residence] is a powerful building with five rectangular terraces. The lower terrace is clad in Bien-hoa stone and measures approximately 90 meters down the side of its base. The other terraces are clad in sandstone. A covered gallery reigns all around the second floor. The upper plateau, which is 18 meters above the ground and approximately 40 meters apart, supports a central tower about 30 meters high, and four other smaller towers. These towers are of severe architecture, very sober in ornamentation. The entire monument bears the imprint of strength. The moldings of the terraces have more relief than those of Bakheng. Perhaps Takeo was not entirely finished. The name of this building indicates that it must have contained one of these famous statues of the Buddha in precious stone, which have given rise to so many legends in Indo-China, and which we will have to talk about in connection with the history of Cambodia.
On Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm is a vast residence with crossed galleries and a large exterior enclosure. This measures about 400 meters in both directions and is only very slightly rectangular. At 80 meters in, is a second enclosure, and finally, at a little less distance, appears the first gallery of the monument, gallery which, like that of Angcor Wat, is formed on the outside of two rows of columns and on the inside of a solid wall. Doors with three turns appear to have existed on all four sides. On the north and south faces, eight transverse colonnades, interconnected two by two, lead from this first gallery to the second. The third gallery and the central tower are ruined. The monument is so devastated by the hand of men and time that an exact reconstruction would require a very long study on the spot. It seems, moreover, that there have been partial reconstructions made at various times. We find the ruins of small towers 8 to 10 meters high, at many intersections of colonnades.
Mouhot says that at the time of his site visit, mandarins were in charge of transporting one of these towers to Bankok.
We see at their base, in ogival niches, sculptures of women, some of which are very remarkable. Inside the building is a statue believed to be that of King Ta Prohm. It can be taken as a specimen of the type most commonly adopted by the Khmers: strong build of the head, accentuated black eyebrows, strong nose. The hair is tied at the top of the head. We can say to a certain extent that this type plays the role of the Roman head in the West; he lacks grace and finesse, but he is dignified, calm, strong, political, and we understand, on examining him, that the Cambodian race has come to dominate half of Indo-China.
On Banteay Kdei
Ekdey’s residence (Banteay Kdei) is to the south and a very short distance from Ta Prohm; to get there, we cross a small pagoda enclosure. This monument is smaller than the previous one, and almost completely ruined. According to the natives, it would contain the statue of the mother of King Ta Prohm.
On Spean Thmor
The Angcor river flows between these monuments and the city. We crossed it on a bridge, now partly destroyed, which seems to end opposite Takeo. Fourteen arches still remain; maybe there were two or three more. The apron had a balustrade of which we find fragments and its width exceeds 10 meters; the piles are about 1 m, 30; the arches – a singular thing – are a little narrower. The bridge is made of sandstone, but built, as Muhot said, with pieces of scrap, or with the debris of other monuments. Perhaps this is just a reconstruction of the bridge by a less skilled generation. The sands and the wood carried by the river filled the arches, and the waters went to the east side, where they dug a new bed, throwing up heaps of stones downstream and to the right.
On Lolei, Preah Ko and Bakong Temples
These three monuments are located in the southwest of Angcor Wat. Leley (Lolei) is a three-terraced building with retaining walls in Bien-hoa (laterite) stone. Each terrace forms a tier 2 meters high; the second terrace is set back 8 meters, and the third set back 3 meters from the second; it measures approximately 90 meters in the east and west direction, 80 in the north and south direction, and supports four brick towers arranged two by two; their open door faces east, the other three sides are adorned with closed doors in carved sandstone. The northern towers are on the monument’s east and west axis, suggesting that there were once six towers instead of four.
The northeast tower contains a large and ugly statue, to which the inhabitants come to make offerings. He is areak, they say, sort of a demon or secondary deity.
On the sandstone frames of each open door are inscriptions, very well preserved, true masterpieces of lapidary writing. The characters are fourteen millimeters high, and are hollowed out very uniformly. They are the old Cambodian characters of Angcor, but more rounded, sharper, more beautiful. …
These inscriptions are read, but not understood by the most learned priests of Cambodia. The words used belong to a too old language of which one finds some vestiges today only in the collections of laws prior to the sixteenth century.
Around the monument, one meets on all sides of the reversed columns or still standing, which seem to come from an enclosure with galleries or sanctuaries and other secondary buildings today disappeared. At the base of the towers is a sandstone channel for the flow of water. It is the only example of a disposition of this kind in the Khmer monuments that we know of. At the entrance to the eastern stairs of the upper plateau is an enormous sandstone plaque which bears an almost erased inscription on either side.
The local tradition affirms that it was from the top of the upper terrace of Leley that the kings of Angcor attended the jousts and naval battles which took place, during the rainy season, in the plain, submerged at that time, dominated by this monument.
Preacon (Preah Ko) is a small way from Leley (Lolei). After crossing a stone wall of Bien-hoa (laterite), we come to three brick towers of great beauty. Their surface is covered with a layer of cement about 3 centimeters thick, on which are spread extremely varied sculptures whose design and design denote an admirable art..
At Leley and Preacon, the figures which adorn the niches on the faces of the towers are men. In Leley, we think we recognize statues of kings or great figures. The natives, however, deny that they are kings. At Preacon, the figures appear less noble. They have in hand spears with one or three points. The tops of the doors, which are made of sandstone, as in Leley, still represent the usual drawing of the dragon curving in the middle of foliage. But here the richness of these sculptures exceeds what we see elsewhere. The body of the dragon and the foliage bear figures, and the reliefs are more varied, more strongly marked. To the west, behind the three main towers, are four other half-ruined brick towers of much less importance. In front, are three aedicles: the one in the middle is made of sandstone; the other two are made of Bien-hoa stone. The eastern gate of the enclosure is of sandstone and laterally adorned with windows with balusters and lions. Between the aedicule and the south tower is a sandstone ox.
Bacong (Bakong) is a five-story monument. The lower terrace has a side of about 60 meters; the other terraces form steps, equal in height and width; they are set back on top of each other from 4 to 5 meters. The upper plateau is only 18 meters from east to west, and is raised about 12 to 13 meters above the ground; in the center is a large altar on which no doubt once stood a statue. At the corners of each terrace are placed sandstone elephants of decreasing size; those at the bottom were 2 meters high. Most of them have disappeared. On each side of the stairs, built in the middle of each side of the terraces, are lions whose size is also decreasing. The steps of the stairs are made of huge blocks of sandstone, some of which are reddish. At the foot of the lower terrace rise eight high brick towers, two on each side. They are almost completely ruined. On the east face, two other towers are placed in front of the first two and, built symmetrically on both sides of this group of four towers, rise four brick kiosks, ruined and overgrown. Their thick walls are pierced with rows of round holes that barely allowed the entry of air and daylight. ….
Bacong is surrounded by two concentric enclosures level with the towers; these are located above the forest floor, and the outer enclosure is, so to speak, only a retaining wall. Within the second enclosure and on the south face, are the ruins of an old stone construction from Bien-hoa. It is not a question here of a sanctuary or a tower, but probably of a habitable building.
On Krol Romeas
This Krol Romeas, there are many, is is an outlet located at the edge of the East Baray. The existence of the East Baray appears to be unknown at that time.
About two kilometers from Preadac, following the modern tank road which leads east, you come across a rather unusual construction that the locals call the Cage du Rhinocéros. It is a rectangular pit 40 by 20 meters, clad in stone. A sort of roadway, lower than the retaining walls, crosses it in its smallest dimension; it is cut in the middle. At one of the angles of the pit is a staircase leading down to it.
Garnier goes on to describe locals mentioning a 9 m long statue of reclining Buddha atop Kulen Mountain, mentioning once again the stone quarries around Kulen, and briefly mentioning a temple which could be Ta Ong. They visit Beng Mealea and its basin, describing it much as we see it today along with its basin but not venturing onwards due to the dense forest.
He mentions that locals describe the ancient causeway that linked Angcor (Angkor) to Mealea (Beng Mealea) and then onto Preacan (Preah Khan of Kampong Svay).
On Toap Chey
But in continuing to advance eastward, the sandstone is soon replaced by the Rien-hoa stone, which forms enormous layers on all sides, several leagues in extent. Not far from Méléa J is the small sanctuary of Top Chey, which is in the middle of the forest near a trapeang or large dug pond, which serves as a stopping place. Top Chey’s enclosure is made of Bien-hoa stone, with sandstone doors. The eastern one has monumental proportions. The sanctuary is vaulted; it is made of sandstone as well as the two aids facing it.
On Spean Ta Ong
After a few hours of walking, you arrive at Stung Chacreng, an important river that you cross on a large bridge 63 meters long and 12 wide. Its general appearance is imposing. It is built of Bien-hoa stones of strong dimensions; most are 1.50 m long, a few are over 2 m. They are fitted with a judicious arrangement: those which form and cover the vaults are placed in the direction of the length of the bridge; those which support the deck are in the direction perpendicular to the piers; they are alternated. There are in all fourteen arches of 1.80 m wide; the piles are 1 m, 60 wide; the height of the deck above the foot of the piers is 8 meters. The base of the piles rests directly on the sandstone, which in this place forms the bed of the river, and this base is gradually widened so as to reach a dimension of 30 meters in the direction of the current. The balustrades still exist: they are made of sandstone and have the usual shape of a seven-headed dragon.
Imperceptibly, the west bank of the river becomes silted up; the waters are moving on the opposite side and we can predict at this bridge the fate of that of Angcor. In the presence of these effects produced by the violence and irregularity of the currents at the time of the rains, we understand that the Khmer builders have given their bridges a solidity which at first glance seems exaggerated. The noise made by the river at this time of year rushing under the arches is such that the elephants refuse to pass. This bridge is called by the natives Spean Tahon. On this same river and quite a distance downstream is according to the natives, another bridge similar to this one, but perhaps smaller, which is called Spean Preapil.
On Preah Khan of Kampong Svay
You enter Preacan through the east entrance. We cross the large ditch that defends its surroundings, on a monumental bridge whose side faces are decorated with colossal sculptures representing Krout birds (Garuda). The balustrade is supported at intervals by groups of four grimacing figures.
The door has three openings, each crowned by a tower and preceded by columned peristyles. After having crossed it, we follow a paved road which leaves, on the right, an important aedicule, on the left, the small enclosure of a pagoda, and a little further on each side, a Sra with stone steps. A staircase leads to a wider roadway which has two large stone lions facing front, standing and moving, their paws forward. These are the best sculptures of this kind in all the ruins we have visited.
The building is now in front of us: it is with galleries, but incomplete. The first enclosure is a low gallery: at the angles, and on both sides of the entrance, it supports round turrets: the door itself has no tower, but only vaults. The additional construction, which is usually found on the east face. is not clearly defined here: we first find four aids arranged on the same line, then four basins symmetrically placed in relation to the axis of the monument; the last two have in the center two large square pillars; maybe they were covered. In the northeast corner of this first enclosure, are four stone pyramids of Bien-hoa.
Behind the Sra is a large isolated monumental gate. It may have belonged to a second enclosure which has now disappeared. We find in fact, opposite the north and south gates of the third enclosure, two constructions which have no possible goal if they are not attached to an intermediate enclosure. This was perhaps formed only of a simple wall, traces of which seem visible.
Outside this monumental gate and in front of the east face of the interior gallery, are two new kiosks facing east. The interior gallery or third enclosure has four doors topped with towers. In the center is a taller tower and two aids which communicate with the east face of the gallery. All of these towers are similar to those at Angcor Wat.
The monument is in rather poor condition, and you can only walk on rubble. It was a residence of less importance than Méléa and much inferior from an architectural point of view. The sacred representations are there in great number, while we do not remember having met a single one in Méléa. They have been collected in the kiosks, and among this debris there are pieces of real value. One can quote among others a colossal statue, whose head, perfectly intact, is of a beautiful expression.
Outside of Preacan, to the east, was dug a large basin which occupied the entire facade, that is to say which was about 400 meters wide, and which extended in length for at least a kilometer. At the south-eastern corner of this basin, one sees, inside a small enclosure, a monument of a particular shape; it is a truncated quadrangular pyramid, covered on the outside by layers of Bien-hoa stone set back one on top of the other. Stairs are practiced on the middle of each face. At the top of these stairs, on either side of the penultimate step, are lions, and, at the very top, on the upper plateau, are two statues of small and stocky figures, who lean on a stick. and who may represent Neac Ta. At each corner of the upper shelf are sandstone elephants one meter high, of good quality. In the center is a square hole of about 1.50 m, clad in sandstone. The base of this pyramid is about 20 meters across, the upper plateau is less than 10 meters.
There are a few other unimportant ruins in the vicinity of Preacan; but one can consider this residence as the limit of the Khmer vestiges which one can hope to find in the direction of the east. Beyond we arrive in the land of the Kouys, the first village of which is five leagues away. In the north and two days’ walk from Preacan, still on Cambodian territory, are the ruins of another residence called Caker; the natives affirm that it is entirely destroyed and that it offers no interest after those which precede. Compong Thom, capital of the large province of Compong Soai, is a three-day walk south.
He concludes his notes on temples comparing them equally to that of Greece and Rome
We will probably not be accused of recklessness, if we affirm, at the end of this study, that Khmer architecture is one of the most original and most powerful that exists.
The complete scan of the original 500+ page book can download from a variety of sources by Googling “Voyage d’exploration en Indo-Chine”. Images in this post are from the publication with the original artists being Louis Delaporte or Emile Therond.