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AYUTHIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 78 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AYUTHIA , a See also:

city of See also:Siam, now known to the Siamese as Krung Kao or " the Old See also:Capital," situated in 100° 32' E., 14° 21' N. Pop. about 1o,000. The See also:river Me Nam, broken up into a network of creeks, here surrounds a large See also:island upon which stand the ruins of the famous city which was for more than four centuries the capital of Siam. The bulk of the inhabitants live in the floating houses characteristic of See also:lower Siam, using as thorough-fares the creeks to the edges of which the houses are moored. The ruins of the old city are of See also:great archaeological See also:interest, as are the See also:relics, of which a large collection is housed in the See also:local museum. Outside the See also:town is an See also:ancient See also:masonry enclosure for the See also:capture of elephants, which is still periodically used. Ayuthia is on the See also:northern See also:main See also:line Di the See also:state See also:railways, 42 M. from See also:Bangkok. Great quantities of paddi are annually sent by river and See also:rail to Bangkok, in return for which See also:cloth and other goods are imported to See also:supply the wants of the agriculturist peasantry. There is no other See also:trade. Ayuthia is the See also:chief town of one of the richest agricultural provincial divisions of Siam and is the headquarters of a high See also:commissioner. The See also:government offices occupy spacious buildings, once a royal summer See also:retreat; the government is that of an See also:ordinary provincial See also:division (Monton). Historically Ayuthia is the most interesting spot in Siam.

Among the innumerable ruins may be seen those of palaces, pagodas, churches and fortifications, the departed glories of which are recorded in the writings of the See also:

early See also:European travellers who first brought Siam within the knowledge of the See also:West, and laid the See also:foundations of the See also:present See also:foreign intercourse and trade. The town was twice destroyed by the Burmese, once in 1555 and again in 1767, and from the date of the second destruction it ceased to be the capital of the See also:country.

End of Article: AYUTHIA

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AZAIS, PIERRE HYACINTHE (1766-1845)

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