Wat Phnom

Not far from the riverfront and built on the city’s highest artificial hill, this active wat (pagoda) marks the legendary founding place of Phnom Penh. The current temple was rebuilt in 1926 on the site where, as legend has it, a temple was constructed in 1434 to house four Buddha statues found in a tree on the flooded banks of the Mekong River. Today, in addition to a steady stream of pilgrims, Wat Phnom is home to elaborate shrines, opportunistic fortune tellers, and frisky monkeys. Vendors sell small birds from cages, which are meant to bring good luck to the person who buys and releases them.