Bayon at Angkor Thom belongs to the Common Era — dated here to c. 1200 CE at Cambodia. Dates mark a scholarly centre of gravity (dedication, completion, or iconic phase), not a single foundation day.
Towers carved with serene faces — Jayavarman VII’s state temple watching every direction.
How it amazes the brain
Laterite and sandstone, bas-reliefs of daily life and war, a Buddhist core in a Hindu city.
Why it counts as a wonder
It never needed a contest ballot to scramble the brain: scale, craft, or sheer improbability is enough.
Hundreds of eyes in stone. Uncanny by design.
On dating
CE means years after the traditional birth of Christ. A monument listed as c. 1200 CE may have been founded earlier, rebuilt later, or become famous only in one phase. Engineering wonders (dams, tunnels, orbiting labs) are dated to opening or assembly.
This is story 52 of 100 in The Trend Ledger’s illustrated desk on world wonders raised after the birth of Christ — the companions to our BCE series.