This undated photo shows staff members working at the restoration site of the Angkor Wat's eastern gate's roof in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (APSARA National Authority/Handout via Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The restoration work on the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple in Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park has been completed, the APSARA National Authority (ANA) said in a news release on Tuesday.
Neth Simon, an archaeologist and project manager from the ANA's Department of Conservation of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology, said the restoration work had been carried out since 2020 and completed at the end of 2023.
She said under the project, stones had been fixed and reassembled according to their original design from the foundation to the top of the gate.
This undated photo shows the restoration site of the Angkor Wat's eastern gate's roof in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (APSARA National Authority/Handout via Xinhua)
"After the completion of this restoration work, we expect that the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple will be strong and safe again for tourists to pass through and to take beautiful pictures there," Simon said. "In particular, the value of ancient structure has been preserved as a legacy for the next generations."
According to the news release, due to age, nature, and human factors, the structure of the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple was in a very dilapidated condition, as its central tower was badly damaged.
Built in the late 12th to early 13th centuries under the reign of King Jayavarman VII, Banteay Kdei is one of the temples in the 401-square-km Angkor Archaeological Park in northwest Siem Reap province.
The Angkor Archaeological Park, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1992, is the most popular tourist destination in the Southeast Asian nation. Enditem
This undated photo shows tourists visiting the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (APSARA National Authority/Handout via Xinhua)
This undated photo shows staff members working at the restoration site of the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (APSARA National Authority/Handout via Xinhua)
This undated photo shows the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (APSARA National Authority/Handout via Xinhua)
This undated photo shows the Brahma faces at the central tower of the western gate of Banteay Kdei temple in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (APSARA National Authority/Handout via Xinhua)
This undated photo shows staff members working at the restoration site of the Angkor Wat's eastern gate's roof in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (ANA/Handout via Xinhua)
This undated photo shows staff members working at the restoration site of the Angkor Wat's eastern gate's roof in Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (ANA/Handout via Xinhua) ■
