The roof of the main temple at Wat Xiengthong sweeps low to the ground in three tiers, its dark tiles mimicking the wings of a bird about to take flight. Built in fifteen sixty by King Setthathirath, this temple served as the royal coronation site and the spiritual anchor for Lao monarchs for centuries. When the Black Flag Army ransacked Luang Prabang in eighteen eighty-seven, their leader saw the intricate, glass-tiled Tree of Life mosaic on the rear wall and spared the monastery from fire.
Wat Xiengthong
religious
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