Ta Prohm

A Khmer Buddhist monastery and university built by Jayavarman VII in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, Ta Prohm has been left largely in its overgrown state by archaeological conservators, making it one of the most visually dramatic sites in the Angkor complex. Silk-cotton and strangler fig trees have rooted in the temple's galleries and towers over centuries, their roots spreading across sandstone walls and through collapsed rooflines in a manner that has become a defining image of Angkor. Long galleries and tower chambers remain navigable despite the encroaching root systems.