Bagan was the capital of the Burmese empire. He dazzled Marco Polo and still has a unique splendor. Its more than 4000 temples, more than 2000 in the archaeological site, are a sufficient reason to travel to the country of pagodas and the friendliest people in the world.

For something UNESCO has just included it in its World Heritage list.

Some history

Marco Polo was the first western traveler ecstatic to the wonders of Bagan. «They shine like a thousand fires,» he said of the pagodas and stupas of the plain, which then added more than 13,000. And they form one of the most beautiful paintings in the world.

Seven hundred years later, the description is still accurate. Today, the number of temples has been reduced to the third part, but it still represents an impressive figure: 4446 temples distributed in 42 square kilometers.
Most temples can be visited, although the effort to travel them is usually limited to the main ones.

Among them, the eldest of all, the Dhammayangyi Pahto, built in the twelfth century by a king who wanted to achieve sufficient merit to compensate that he had killed his father, his brother and his wife.

The situation of Bagan, next to the river Ayeryarwady, the fluvial artery of the country; Its relatively warm and dry climate, the fertility of its soils and the proximity of a sacred place for centuries, Mount Popa, made Bagan the capital of the most important Burmese kingdom.

King Anawratha, in the eleventh cen...