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Museums & Galleries in Phnom Penh
Cambodia's riverside capital at the meeting of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, a low-slung city of French-colonial shophouses and boulevards, the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, and the Khmer sculpture of the National Museum, long the political and cultural heart of the country.
Why here
To understand what the carvers of Angkor achieved, you go to the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, which holds the finest collection of Khmer art anywhere. Inside a striking terracotta pavilion built in the French-colonial era beside the Royal Palace, more than fourteen thousand pieces trace a thousand years and more of Khmer sculpture, bronze, ceramic and wood, from pre-Angkorian statuary to the masterpieces of the empire. This is where the greatest originals were brought for safekeeping while replicas stand in the temples, so the museum is the counterpart to a temple visit rather than a substitute for it. Standing before the eight-armed Vishnu from Phnom Da or the serene Harihara from Prasat Andet, you see Khmer art at its source, room by room and material by material.
Best months
The museum is open daily, year-round, with cooler and more comfortable conditions inside during the hot months from March to May. The galleries are arranged by material and period, and a guide or audio guide helps make sense of the iconography. Photography rules vary by gallery. Allow a couple of hours, and pair it with the neighbouring Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, which share the same quarter.
Getting there & around
The National Museum stands on Street 13 in central Phnom Penh, just north of the Royal Palace, an easy walk or short tuk-tuk ride from the riverfront. Entry is a modest ticket, with an extra fee for a guide or camera. It is a comfortable half-day on foot combined with the palace quarter. The city's airport and river-road connections make Phnom Penh an easy base at the start or end of a Cambodia trip.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
National Museum of Cambodia
OrganizerThe National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh holds the world's finest collection of Khmer art, more than fourteen thousand objects spanning prehistory through the Angkorian empire and after. Housed in a terracotta pavilion built in the French-colonial period beside the Royal Palace, it is run by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and arranges its galleries by material. Its landmark pieces include an eight-armed Vishnu from Phnom Da and a Harihara from Prasat Andet.