Spean Thma (, ''Spéan Thmâ''; lit. "stone bridge") in
Angkor
Angkor ( km, អង្គរ , 'Capital city'), also known as Yasodharapura ( km, យសោធរបុរៈ; sa, यशोधरपुर),Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-Engl ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
is known as the ''bridge of stone'' and it is located west of
Ta Keo
Ta Keo ( km, ប្រាសាទតាកែវ, ) is a temple-mountain in Angkor (Cambodia), possibly the first to be built entirely of sandstone by the Khmer Empire.
The site
Ta Keo was the state temple of Jayavarman V, son of Rajendra ...
. It is one of the few
Khmer Empire era bridges to have survived to the modern day.
It was built on the former path of the
Siem Reap River
The Siem Reap River (Steung Siem Reap; km, ស្ទឹងសៀមរាប) is a river flowing through Siem Reap Province, in north-west Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingd ...
between
Angkor Thom and the
Eastern Baray and it was probably rebuilt after the Khmer period (around the 15th century), as it includes many reused sandstone blocks.
[ Rooney, 2005, p.313]
The 14 narrow arches are 1.10 m wide.
Several other bridges on the same model are visible: in the Angkor site (
Spean Memai) and at several locations of the former empire. On the road from Angkor to
Beng Mealea, the
Spean Praptos is one of the longest with 25 arches.
References
Bibliography
*
Road bridges in Cambodia
Angkorian sites in Siem Reap Province
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