Vat Xieng Thong Ratsavoravihanh

Vat Xieng Thong Ratsavoravihanh

The full Laotian name of the famous temple in Luang Prabang which I visited several times and surely not the last.
The temple and its area is the most historically significant and impressive of Luang Prabang’s many wats. The low sweeping double-tiered roof (the front portico actually forms a third tier) and the rich interior and exterior decoration of its sim create an exceptionally fine example of the classic Luang Prabang style.
Before until 1975, when the monarchy was terminated, the temple was under royal patronage. The king, his family, and others, built, embellished and maintained its many structures.
Fortunately it was spared the destruction during the Chinese Black Flag maurader invasion of the city in 1887, when part of the city and many of its monasteries were damaged or destroyed.
(The leader of the Chinese invaders, in Laotian named Kham Oun, was in his youth a novice monk at the wat and used it as his headquarters.)