Ayutthaya - A Gem of Thailand!

Ayutthaya is about one hour north of Bangkok, but it is worlds away in terms of history and culture.  Ayutthaya reigned as the capital of Thailand for 400 years, from 1350 to 1767.  Bangkok is a huge, bustling city, and Ayutthaya is in a much smaller town, where bicycling is more typical.  During its heyday, Ayutthaya was one of the important centers of commercial trading for Southeast Asia.  Visitors from all over the world came to call in Ayutthaya.  A succession of 33 kings ruled over Ayutthaya and built temples and palaces and supported a population which grew to about 1 million by the 17th century.  It is hard to believe that this charming city full of beautiful ruins was home to a million people.  Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, when they invaded Thailand, burned the city and either killed or took the Thai citizens as slaves back to Burma.  It isn't hard to imagine how glorious this city once was.  The Ayutthaya period was important era to the development of Thai architecture, and some of the most beautiful examples were found in the city of Ayutthaya, which had over 1,700 Buddhist temples!  Because most of these structures were built out of stone, they survived, in some fashion, in spite of the fires and time.  It is easy to see the beauty that remains in the ruins.