The city lies on the west bank of the
Siem Reap River, a tributary of
Tonle Sap, about from the river. The south gate of Angkor Thom is north of
Siem Reap and north of the entrance to
Angkor Wat. The walls, high and flanked by a
moat, are each long, enclosing an area of . The walls are of
laterite buttressed by earth, with a parapet on the top. There are gates at each of the
cardinal points, from which roads lead to the Bayon at the centre of the city. As the Bayon itself has no wall or moat of its own, those of the city are interpreted by archaeologists as representing the mountains and oceans surrounding the Bayon's
Mount Meru. The gateways themselves are , and would originally have been closed with wooden doors. The south gate is now by far the most often visited, as it is the main entrance to the city for tourists. At each corner of the city is a Prasat Chrung—corner shrine—built of
sandstone and dedicated to Avalokiteshvara. These are
cruciform with a central tower and oriented towards the east. Within the city was a system of
canals, through which water flowed from the northeast to the southwest. The bulk of the land enclosed by the walls would have been occupied by the secular buildings of the city, of which nothing remains. This area is now covered by forest. Most of the great Angkor ruins have vast displays of bas-relief depicting the various gods, goddesses, and other-worldly beings from the mythological stories and epic poems of Hinduism. Mingled with these images are actual known animals, like elephants, snakes, fish, and monkeys, in addition to dragon-like creatures that look like the stylized, elongated serpents (with feet and claws) found in Chinese art. But among the ruins of
Ta Prohm, near a huge stone entrance, one can see that the "
roundels on
pilasters on the south side of the west entrance are unusual in design." What one sees are roundels depicting various common animals—pigs, monkeys, water buffaloes, roosters, and snakes. There are no mythological figures among the roundels, so one can reasonably conclude that these figures depict the animals that were commonly seen by the ancient Khmer people in the twelfth century. ==Gallery==