Google Asia Pacific Blog: Wander through Angkor's thousand-year-old temples on Street View

Wander through Angkor's thousand-year-old temples on Street View

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Cross-posted from the Google Lat Long blog.

The sunrise at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is one of Southeast Asia’s most iconic and breathtaking vistas. Dawn brings to light the many temples that are thousands of years old, nestled in a web of ancient roads and jungles. Today you’ll be one step closer to that view as we are making more than 100 of these historic sites available online with Street View on Google Maps.

The temples at Angkor each have a unique story—whether it’s the way they were built, the ancient Khmer cities they sit on, or the artwork they contain. To give you the most complete picture, our team used all the tools available to us: Street View cars, Trekkers and tripods to carefully photograph the exteriors and interiors of Angkor’s temples as they stand today.

With more than 90,000 new panoramic images views, we hope Cambodians and others around the world can experience these cultural and archaeological treasures in an entirely new way. Whether it’s revisiting iconic sites such as Bayon Temple in time for the Khmer New Year or studying the Ramayana’s Battle of Lanka bas relief carvings within Angkor Wat, Street View can help you more easily explore Angkor’s rich heritage.

Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom

Ramayana Gallery at Angkor Wat West

After roaming the temples, you can also experience more of Angkor’s rich historical and artistic heritage through the Google Cultural Institute. From 12th-century sculpture and mid-20th century photography to modern-day renderings of medieval Angkor life, nearly 300 exhibits across the Google Cultural Institute can give you a look at Khmer culture through the ages.

We hope this new imagery will not only let people experience the scale and beauty of Angkor wherever they are, but also demonstrate how technology can change the way cultural treasures are preserved for generations to come.

Posted by Manik Gupta, Group Product Manager, Google Maps