Preah Vihear

Preah Vihear (lit. "vihāra of the gods") (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ Prasat Preah Vihear) is an ancient edifice built by the Khmer Empire as a Hindu temple on top of a 525-metre (1,722 ft) cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, in Cambodia. Over time, it became a Buddhist temple. As a key edifice of the empire's spiritual life, Preah Vihear was supported and modified by successive kings and thus bears elements of several architectural styles. It is unusual among Khmer temples in being constructed along a long north–south axis, rather than having the conventional rectangular plan with orientation toward the east. The temple gives its name to the surrounding Preah Vihear province. In 1962, after a lengthy dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over ownership, the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled that the temple is in Cambodia. On 7 July 2008, Preah Vihear was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This prompted an escalation in the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over the temple, which was settled in favour of Cambodia by another ICJ ruling in 2013.