Worth visiting for its beauty alone, the National Museum also houses the world's foremost collection of ancient Khmer archaeological, religious and artistic artifacts. The Angkor era is the museum's specialty, but it also features other important periods such as the Funan and Zhenla the two empires most closely seen as precursors to Angkor. More than 5000 objects dating from the 4th to the 13th centuries are on display. And these are only the tip of the iceberg. Lack of funding and special restraints have meant the museum's vaults remain full of thousands more objects, many of them priceless.
The museum is open daily from 8 am to 11:30 am and from 2:30 pm to 5 pm. French and English spoken guides are available or visitors can purchase one of the books or pamphlets available and wander the four courtyards, each facing out into a garden, and try to piece together the complex history through these magnificent works of ancient art themselves.
Among the most memorable of these is an eight armed statue of Vishnu dating from the 6th century, but even the smaller, less imposing pieces gives a unique insight into the skill of the craftspeople that had inhabited this area through the centuries.
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