Angkor Thom Royal Palace

While the shady Royal Palace Grounds occupy nearly 37 acres (15 hectares), few structures other than the phimeanakas and the royal-baths remain as it is believed that the palaces built within the grounds were constructed of perishable materials that did not survive the ages, though numerous treasures on display at the national-museum were unearthed within the compound.

Rajendravarman II, who relocated the capital back to Yasodharapura in the mid-10th century after the relatively brief Koh Ker period, is believed to have constructed the earliest permanent structures within the palace enclosure, including the Phimeanakas, which may have housed the devaraja. Suryavarman I is believed to have made additions to the original compound around the turn of the 11th century though he too could have been responsible for the original temple.

As later kings ruled from within the palace grounds (for at least two hundred years), a number of additional alterations were made, including the 20 foot tall laterite wall that surrounds the palace grounds and the royal-baths to the north of the Phimeanakas. The eastern gopura of the enclosure wall, which opens onto the central platform of the elephant-terrace and the victory-way, were all additions contributed by Jayavarman VII when he constructed Angkor Thom, within which the Royal Palace Enclosure now lies.