This ancient city is known to the world as Angkor Wat－after its most beautiful temple, but the true wonder is the city itself, which is actually called Angkor．

　　The first temples were completed in the eighth century by early Khmer(高棉)king Jayavarman and his heirs(继承人)kept building on his project．The whole of Angkor was built over a period of about 600 years．It never stopped．It was to recreate in Hindu mythology(印度神话)the Mount Mira, the Hindu Heaven．And the kings wanted to raise themselves to a god－like position and progressive kings enlarged upon it．And so it just grew and grew．Each king wanted to build another temple．They were trying to create Heaven on Earth．

　　The flourishing jungle heaven they created certainly caught the attention of the neigh boring kingdom of Siam－now known as Thailand(泰国)．After one hundred years of off and on battle, the Thai armies began to get the upper hand．At the end of it, the Cambodian people were worn out．Their resources had run out．The Thais had a relatively easy victory when they finally seized Angkor in 1431．But a mystery surrounded their victory．Without warning the Thai armies deserted Angkor as suddenly as they conquered it and to this day, no one knows why．

　　The Royal Court(朝廷)just walked away from Angkor completely．The couple of temples were repaired and visited from time to time．But basically they just turned their back on it．And the magnificent(宏伟)city became lost in the mists(薄雾)of time．Tales of this mysterious city floated throughout the jungles of Southeast Asia for centuries．

　　The locals were telling stories．There had been French naturalists through the area, but no one believed the tales．Then, in 1860 the French explorer Henri Mahout set out to find Angkor．One day he stepped into a jungle clearing and found himself walking through the imperial ruins of the ancient city．Over one hundred years later, the world is also beginning to understand the glory of Angkor．

　　For being a heavenly city that transcends(超越)time, Angkor rises to number three on our list．

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