Wat Ratchabophit

Rama V began Wat Ratchabophit in 1869, early in a reign spent modernising Siam against European pressure, and the building is that project in architecture. From outside it is entirely Thai: a circular cloister of Chinese-tiled walls enclosing a golden chedi, 43 metres high in Sri Lankan style and holding a relic of the Buddha, with ordination and assembly halls opening off it, everything faced in five-coloured Chinese ceramic. Step inside the ubosot and the vocabulary changes completely - the interior is Gothic Revival, with ribbed vaulting, pointed arches, stained glass and a colour scheme that would not be out of place in a nineteenth-century European chapel, all built around a Buddha image on a European-style altar; the three-metre doors are inlaid in mother-of-pearl with the insignia of royal orders. The combination is deliberate and startling, and the temple is much less visited than the Grand Palace a few minutes away. A royal cemetery in the grounds holds monuments to Rama V's family in a mixture of styles, including a small Gothic chapel.

What to look for

• The Gothic interior - ribbed vaults and pointed arches inside a Thai ubosot.
• The circular cloister - the tiled gallery enclosing the golden chedi.
• The ceramic facing - five-coloured Chinese tile across the exterior.
• The royal cemetery - monuments in Thai, Khmer and European styles.

When to go

November to February. It is quiet compared with the Grand Palace nearby. An hour covers it. Halls close at midday for a period.

Good to know

Halls close for part of the middle of the day. Temple dress code applies. It is small - an hour is enough. The cemetery is sometimes locked.

Nearby

The Grand Palace and Wat Pho are a short walk west; Wat Suthat is east.

Key facts