Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai
The ruined brick chedi at the centre of the old city, once the tallest structure in the Lanna kingdom.
Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai
Wat Chedi Luang sits almost exactly in the middle of Chiang Mai's walled old city. Its chedi was finished in the fifteenth century at a height of around eighty metres, making it the tallest building in the Lanna kingdom, and it housed the Emerald Buddha for most of a century before that image began the journey that ended in Bangkok.
An earthquake in the sixteenth century brought down the upper section, and the temple has deliberately been left as a ruin - a vast square brick mass with elephant figures at the base and stairways guarded by nagas, partially restored on one face so the original form can be read. It is more impressive incomplete than most intact chedis.
The compound also holds the city pillar shrine, under an old gum tree, and a modern hall where monks sit for informal monk chats with visitors. It is a few minutes' walk from Tha Phae Gate.
- Three Kings Monument — The Three Kings Monument honors Chiang Mai's founding rulers with a striking bronze statue, drawing visitors keen on local...
- Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai — The most revered temple in the old city, and the best surviving example of classic Lanna architecture.
- Wat Umong, Chiang Mai — A forest monastery below Doi Suthep, built around a network of brick meditation tunnels.
- Doi Inthanon National Park — The highest mountain in Thailand, with cloud forest, waterfalls and the twin royal chedis near the summit.
- Tha Phae Gate, Chiang Mai — The restored eastern gate of the old city walls, and the square where Chiang Mai holds its festivals.
- Warorot Market, Chiang Mai — Chiang Mai's main covered market - northern food, textiles and the city's Chinatown around it.
