The Old Market, or Phsar Chas, occupies a low, French colonial building with a distinctive tiled roof that sits in the heart of Siem Reap. It serves as the primary hub for daily life, where rows of narrow stalls pack together under the…
French Quarter Colonial Heritage
This walk traces the remaining French colonial landmarks, grand hotels, and leafy parks of Siem Reap's historic center. You will see how early twentieth-century architecture blended with Cambodian culture along the quiet riverbanks.
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1. Old Market
2. Old Market Bridge
The Old Market Bridge stands out for its curved, steel-truss frame painted a distinct, weathered blue. Originally constructed in France during the nineteen twenties, the government disassembled the structure and shipped it to Cambodia in…
3. Steung Siemreap Hotel
The Steung Siem Reap Hotel features a distinctive colonial facade with deep, rounded arches and soft, buttery yellow plaster that stands out from the surrounding modern structures. It was built in the nineteen twenties when French…
4. Hap Guan Street
Hap Guan Street carries a name that survives from the early twentieth century, when a Chinese trader named Hap Guan operated a prominent business here. While the surrounding Svay Dankum district has transformed into a corridor of modern…
5. Siem Reap Post Office
The Siem Reap Post Office occupies a distinct building featuring a prominent, bright yellow facade and dark shutters that stand out against the greenery of the Svay Dankum neighborhood. Built during the French colonial era, the structure…
6. FCC Angkor by Avani
The cream-colored colonial facade of the Foreign Correspondents Club, or FCC, sits right along the Siem Reap River. Its low-slung, terracotta-tiled roof covers a building that began life in the nineteen twenties as the French governor’s…
7. Royal Independence Gardens
A sprawling row of century-old banyan trees dominates the skyline at Royal Independence Gardens. These massive, tangled specimens serve as the permanent home for thousands of fruit bats, whose heavy, leather-winged silhouettes fill the…
8. Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor
The Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor features a distinctive, cream-colored colonial facade framed by iron-wrought balconies and deep green shutters. It opened in nineteen thirty-two to serve travelers arriving on the fledgling air route from…