The city at the four faces: Phnom Penh’s great sights

About The city at the four faces: Phnom Penh’s great sights

By the ULTIMATE Phnom Penh Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Phnom Penh grew where four arms of water meet. At the Chaktomuk, the “four faces”, the Tonle Sap joins the Mekong and the Bassac leaves it, and the Royal Palace faces that confluence across the promenade of Sisowath Quay. The city takes its name from a hill: according to its founding legend, a woman called Penh found Buddha statues in the river and enshrined them on a small hill, the phnom, now Wat Phnom. Under the French protectorate the city was laid out in boulevards and quarters; the Central Market’s great Art Deco dome dates from the 1930s. The 1950s and 60s brought the bold modern buildings now known as New Khmer Architecture, and the National Museum keeps the finest collection of Khmer sculpture anywhere.

The palace and the river

The Royal Palace is the King’s residence; parts of the grounds are open to visitors, including the Throne Hall’s courtyard and the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is laid with silver tiles. Cover shoulders and knees. Along Sisowath Quay the riverside promenade runs north towards Wat Ounalom.

Wat Phnom and the markets

Wat Phnom stands on its wooded hill at the north end of the old centre. The Central Market (Phsar Thmei), under its yellow dome, sells jewellery, silk and food; the Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung), south of the centre, is the place for silk, crafts and a market breakfast.

Visit the palace at opening time, the museum at midday when the heat is high, and walk the river at dusk.

The museum

The National Museum of Cambodia, in its red Khmer-style building beside the palace, holds Khmer sculpture from the pre-Angkor and Angkor periods around a garden courtyard.

Remembering

Two memorials record the years 1975–79: the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in a former school in BKK3, and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center south of the city. Both ask for quiet, covered arms and legs, and time: use the audio guide, and leave young children with someone else that day.

Our advice: hire a tuk-tuk for half a day through your hotel, start at the palace at opening time, and keep the memorials for a separate morning.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The city at the four faces: Phnom Penh’s great sights before you go.