In 1350, Prince Ramathibodi of U-Thong united the independent Kingdoms of Lavo and U-Thong into a new kingdom with Ayutthaya as its capital. In the following 417 years, his 32 successors succeeded in developing the city into one of the largest, richest and most beautiful metropolis of the formerly known world. During that time Ayutthaya was criss-crossed by a 50 km-long canal network. A 12 km-long wall surrounded the city with its nearly 1,000 temples. For two years the ramparts withstood the attacks of Burmese troops, until it fell after heavy fighting in spring 1767 and Ayutthaya was almost completely destroyed.
The Ayutthaya of today is a typical, rather insignificant provincial city with about 60,000 inhabitants. The ruins of the old metropolis as well as the buildings of the new city are located on an islet in the river which was formed by the confluence of Lopburi River in the north, Pasak River in the east and Chao Phraya in the west. The Ayutthaya Historical Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 1991.
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