Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat
Large Royal temple in Lopburi founded by the Khmer 800 years ago.
The Wat Phra Sri Mahathat is a large Royal temple in the center of Lopburi. The temple was founded when Lopburi was under control of the Khmer empire from Angkor, in present day Cambodia.
The eight acres complex which is little visited by foreign tourists houses structures from several periods, the oldest ones being the main prang dating back around 800 years.
Khmer style Prang
The main prang was built by the Khmer in the Bayon style in the late 12th or early 13th century. Standing on a platform, it was probably flanked by similar prangs of smaller size, of which virtually nothing is left. On the West side a portico protrudes out from the structure, giving access to the prang’s interior.
The prang was adorned with fine stuccoed artwork depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha, some of which are still intact. Inside is the cella, the room where the Khmer people worshipped the linga, the ...
Hagia Irene, known as the Church of Holy Peace, stands as the oldest surviving Byzantine church in Istanbul, a quiet sentinel within the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace.
Long before the grandeur of Hagia Sophia rose nearby, this sacred space served as the principal church of the newly founded Constantinople, traditionally commissioned by Emperor Constantine the Great in the early fourth century.
It witnessed the city’s transformation from an ancient Greek colony into the eastern capital of the Roman Empire and briefly held the role of cathedral until Hagia Sophia’s completion in 360.
Destroyed by fire during the Nika Revolt of 532, it was rebuilt by Emperor Justinian I as a majestic domed basilica. A devastating earthquake in 740 led to further restoration under the iconoclast emperor Constantine V, who left behind one of its most striking features: a simple yet powerful mosaic cross on a gold ground in the apse, a rare surviving example of Iconoclastic art.
Unlike nearly every other ...
The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii), is an iconic 17th-century Ottoman mosque in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district. Renowned for its stunning blue Iznik tiles and six slender minarets, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site within Istanbul’s Historic Areas.
It remains an active mosque, drawing worshippers and tourists for its architectural grandeur and historical significance.
Commissioned by Sultan Ahmed I (1603–1617), it was built between 1609 and 1616 by architect Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, a student of Mimar Sinan. Intended to rival Hagia Sophia (directly opposite), it symbolized Ottoman power and piety after military setbacks.
The mosque sparked controversy for its six minarets, equaling Mecca’s Masjid al-Haram, resolved by adding a seventh minaret to Mecca.
Completed just before Ahmed I’s death at age 27, it has since been a centerpiece of Istanbul’s skyline. Restorations in the 19th and 21st centuries preserved its ornate interiors.
The mosque ...
The Little Hagia Sophia, known in Turkish as Küçük Ayasofya Camii, stands in the Fatih district of Istanbul near the shores of the Sea of Marmara, close to the ruins of the Great Palace and south of the Hippodrome. Originally built as the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, it is one of the most important surviving early Byzantine structures in the city and forms part of the Historic Areas of Istanbul, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
Its construction is generally dated between 527 and 536 during the early years of Emperor Justinian I’s reign, though some scholars place the start slightly earlier or later within that decade. The church was dedicated to the Syrian Christian soldier-martyrs Saints Sergius and Bacchus. According to a later legend, Justinian, while still the nephew of Emperor Justin I, had been accused of plotting against the throne and sentenced to death; the two saints appeared to Justin in a dream and vouched for Justinian’s innocence, leading to his ...
