The ancient sanctuary of the Khmer Empire, Vat Phou-Champasak

The Vat Phou-Champasak ruins are spread widely over the Champasak plains along the Mekong River in southern Laos, including numerous ancient ruins and natural heritage sites. It can be helpful to think of it as similar to the cultural heritage sites in Gyeongju, such as Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto, along with Namsan and Hyeongsangang River areas.

The site is located approximately 48 km east of the Laos-Thailand border and about 132 km north of the Laos-Cambodia border.

Champasak

The Champasak Plains had geographical importance in the pre-Angkorian and Angkorian periods. And later the first Lao Kingdom, Lan Xang, was established in the 14th century by King Fa Ngum after he conquered and unified the whole northern region as well as the Champasak Plains. Luang Prabang remained the administrative seat of Lan Xang until King Saysetthathirath moved the kingdom’s capital to Vientiane (present capital of Lao PDR) in 1560. After the death of Surigna Vongsa in 1694, Lan Xang broke up into three separate kingdoms: Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champasak. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Champasak was ruled by a royal family different from that in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. When Laos was colonized by the French during the 19th-20th century, Champasak also became part of the colony. During this period, the royal family of Champasak continued to rule under the new colonial administrative system.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the political administration shifted to Pakse, which is now the capital of Champasak Province and the base camp for exploring southern Laos.