The site

Capital of the Arakan kingdom from 1430 to 1785, a maze of stone temple-fortresses scattered among misty hills near the Bay of Bengal. Their thick, low walls and dark passages were built to withstand both monsoon and siege, and inside stand ranks of Buddha images. At its height Mrauk U was a cosmopolitan port that traded with Bengal, Portugal and the Dutch, who likened it to Amsterdam. Remote and little excavated, it remains one of Southeast Asia's least-known great sites.

Field notes

civilizations

Arakanese

types

City · Temple

built

1,430 CE — 1,531 CE

occupied

1,430 CE — 1,785 CE

country

Myanmar (Burma)