Ayutthaya (city)
Ayutthaya (city)
- For other meanings see Ayutthaya.
| Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya พระนครศรีอยุธยา |
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| Country | Thailand | ||
| Province | Ayutthaya | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | City municipality | ||
| - Mayor | Somsong Sappakosonlakul | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 14.84 km2 (5.7 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 54,888 | ||
| - Density | 3,698.7/km2 (9,579.5/sq mi) | ||
| Registered residents only | |||
| Time zone | Thailand (UTC+7) | ||
| Website | http://www.ayutthayacity.go.th | ||
Ayutthaya (full name Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Thai: พระนครศรีอยุธยา, pronounced [pʰráʔ náʔkʰɔ̄ːn sǐː ʔājúttʰājāː]; also spelled "Ayudhya") city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. The city was founded in 1350 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya kingdom or Siam. It is estimated that Ayutthaya by the year 1600 CE had a population of about 300,000, with the population perhaps reaching 1,000,000 around 1700 CE, making it one of the world's largest cities at that time.
In 1767 the city was destroyed by the Burmese army, resulting in the collapse of the kingdom. The ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya historical park, which is recognized internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was refounded a few kilometers to the east. The city is sometimes called "Venice of the East".
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Etymology
Ayutthaya is named after the city of Ayodhya in India, the birthplace of Rama in the Ramayana (Thai, Ramakien); Phra is a Thai royal and noble title; Nakhon designates an important or capital city; Thai honorific Sri or Si is from the Indian term of veneration Sri.
Ayutthaya Town Center
- Ayutthaya Historical Study Center
- Chan Kasem Palace
- Chao Sam Phraya National Museum
- Wang Luang
- Wat Chai Watthanaram
- Wat Lokaya Sutharam
- Wat Mahathat
- Wat Na Phra Men
- Wat Phanan Choeng
- Wat Phra Ram
- Wat Phra Si Sanphet
- Wat Phutthaisawan
- Wat Phuttai Sawan
- Wat Ratchaburana
- Wat Suwan Dararam
- Wat Thammikarat
- Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit
- St. Joseph's Church
The city is located at the junction of the Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak rivers, and on the main north-south railway linking Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The old city is on an island formed by a bend of the Chao Phraya on the west and south sides, the Pa Sak on the east side and the Klong Muang canal on the northern side.
The approximate centre of the old city is 14°20′N 100°34′E / 14.333°N 100.567°E
In popular culture
- A Thailand-themed town named "Ayothaya" appears in the PC MMORPG Ragnarok Online.
- Ayutthaya is a stage in Soul Calibur II
- The temples in Wat Phra Si Sanphet and Wat Ratchaburana from Ayutthaya appear in Kickboxer (as "Stone City"), Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, and throughout Mortal Kombat Conquest .
- ^ George Modelski, World Cities: –3000 to 2000, Washington DC: FAROS 2000, 2003. ISBN 978-0-9676230-1-6. See also Evolutionary World Politics Homepage.
- ^ The Times Of India. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/et-travel/Ayutthaya-Thailands-historic-city/articleshow/3307967.cms.
- ^ Derick Garnier (2004). Ayutthaya: Venice of the East. River books. ISBN 9-7482-2560-7.
- ^ Mortal Kombat (Laser disc) Audio Commentary, UPC: 014381302165.
Further reading
- Stefan Halikowski Smith, Creolization and Diaspora in the Portuguese Indies: The Social World of Ayutthaya, 1640-1720 (Leiden, Brill, 2011) (European Expansion and Indigenous Response, 8).