Phitsanulok is one of the oldest cities in Thailand, the site of "Muang Yommarat" (), a circular-moated
Dvaravati settlement dating from the 6th to 10th centuries with a diameter of approximately 1 kilometer, founded 8 kilometers northwest of the present-day city center. The new city named "Song Khwae" was later founded over 600 years ago, located 5 kilometers south of the present-day Phitsanulok. According to the retrospective chronology derived from the textual evidence presented in the
Ayutthaya Testimonies, the city of Phitsanulok was established in 937 by a monarch of
Sankhaburi named
Sudhammaraja. It then became under the
Angkor influence around the 11th – 12th centuries. Phitsanulok was originally named "Song Khwae" (lit. "Two Rivers") as it used to be situated between the
Nan and
Khwae Noi Rivers, although the Khwae Noi River now drains into the Nan River ten kilometers to the north of Phitsanulok. The
Northern Chronicles credited the foundation of Song Khwae to "King Srithampidok" or King
Thammaracha I of Sukhothai, on the east bank of Nan River. King Thammaracha I also constructed the
Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat and cast famous Buddha images of
Phra Buddha Chinnarat and Phra Buddha Chinnasri. Song Khwae eclipsed
Sukhothai in importance, becoming the royal seat of
Sukhothai Kingdom in 1378. After the demise of the last King of Sukhothai at Song Khwae in 1438, Prince Ramesuan of Ayutthaya came to rule Song Khwae. When Prince Ramesuan was crowned as King
Trailokanat of Ayutthaya in 1448, Song Khwae and the Sukhothai Kingdom were incorporated into the
Ayutthaya Kingdom. During the
Ayutthaya-Lanna War, King Trailokanat moved his residence to Song Khwae in 1464 and renamed the city "Phitsanulok" (from
Sanskrit Vishnu and
Loka "world"). He expanded the city westward to the west bank of Nan River. In the sixteenth century, Phitsanulok was the seat of
Uparaja or
heir presumptive to Ayutthaya throne who took residence in the Chantana Palace on the west bank. In 1548, King
Maha Chakkraphat appointed his supporter Phra Pirenthorathep as "King Thammaracha" of Phitsanulok as a
tributary ruler. During the
Burmese-Siamese Wars, Phitsanulok and the Sukhothai region became battlegrounds between Burma and Siam. When King
Bayinnaung invaded Phitsanulok in 1563, King Thammaracha of Phitsanulok submitted to the Burmese. King
Thammaracha, now reigned at Ayutthaya, appointed his son Prince
Naresuan as the
Uparaja of Phitsanulok in 1570. In 1584, Prince Naresuan ordered the evacuation of all cities in the Sukhothai region including Phitsanulok down south in preparations against Burmese invasions. Phitsanulok was abandoned until it was later restored in 1593 not as a
Uparaja seat but as a
Muang Ek or first-level city held by a governor, becoming the center of Siamese administrations in northern regions. The governors of Phitsanulok held the title "
Chao Phraya Surasi". After the
Second Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, Phitsanulok came under the rule of Chao Phra Fang, a monk who declared himself a local lord based on the town of Fang (modern
Uttaradit).
King Taksin of
Thonburi sent forces to capture Phitsanulok in 1768 and appointed Boonma (later Prince
Maha Sura Singhanat) as
Chao Phraya Surasi the governor of Phitsanulok. The Burmese General
Maha Thiha Thura laid siege on Phitsanulok in 1775.
Chao Phraya Chakri (future
King Rama I) and his brother
Chao Phraya Surasi Boonma held the city for four months until the city finally fell to the Burmese. Phitsanulok was utterly destroyed on this occasion. The Burmese
invaded again in 1785 and Phitsanulok was abandoned temporarily because the manpower shortage left the city defenseless. After the series of warfare, Phitsanulok was in ruins and depopulated through the nineteenth century. The Phra Buddha Chinnasri image was moved to
Wat Baworn Niwet in Bangkok in 1829. In 1834, the
Phuan people were deported from
Muang Phuan in Laos to re-populate Phitsanulok and surrounding cities. Phitsanulok slowly recovered to be an urban center. As a part of reforms of King Chulalongkorn, Phitsanulok became the administrative seat of the
monthon Phitsanulok in 1894. When the monthons were abolished in 1932, Phitsanulok became the capital of
Phitsanulok Province. • The Phitsanulok fire of 1957 destroyed much of the older portion of the city, which at the time consisted mostly of wooden buildings. • On 28 November 1961, the King Naresuan Shrine was completed at Chandra Palace. • On 25 January 1967, the Phitsanulok campus of what is now
Naresuan University was established as the northern branch of the degree level College of Education. In 1974, the College of Education was upgraded as
Srinakharinwirot University, with Phitsanulok as one of the six campuses. In 1990, the regional campuses became independent universities, and the Phitsanuloke campus was named after Phitsanulok-born King Naresuan the Great. •
Naresuan Dam was constructed from 1976 to 1985 on the
Nan River as part of the Phitsanulok Irrigation Project. The dam was designed to help prevent flooding of the city. • On 8 March 1999 Phitsanulok was upgraded to city municipality (
thesaban nakhon). ==Symbols==