Wat Xieng Thong

King Setthathirath built Wat Xieng Thong in 1560 as the royal temple of the Lan Xang kingdom. It served royal coronations and funerals until the monarchy ended in 1975. The temple survived the 1887 Black Flag invasion because its leader had been a novice here. Today it remains the finest expression of Luang Prabang Buddhist architecture.

King Setthathirath founded Wat Xieng Thong in 1560 to commemorate Chanthaphanith, a betel merchant who became the legendary first king of Luang Prabang. The temple was placed at the tip of the peninsula where two rivers meet—a location of particular significance in Buddhist sacred geography.

The king who built it, Setthathirath, ruled the Lan Xang kingdom—the 'Land of a Million Elephants'—from Luang Prabang and later from Vientiane. He placed the temple under royal patronage, establishing it as the primary royal monastery where kings would make merit, receive religious instruction, and eventually be cremated.

Centuries later, in 1887, Chinese Black Flag marauders invaded Luang Prabang. They destroyed or damaged much of the city and many of its temples. Wat Xieng Thong was spared. The leader of the invasion, Deo Van Tri, had been a novice monk at this very temple in his youth. Recognizing his old monastery, he made it his headquarters rather than destroying it. The temple that had shaped him in youth survived to shape others.