Wat Mahathat Worawihan

Top choice in Phetchaburi


Centrally located, gleaming white Wat Mahathat is one impressive temple. The showpiece is a 42m-tall five-tiered Ayuthaya-style prang (corn-cob shaped stupa) decorated in stucco relief, a speciality of Phetchaburi’s local artisans you'll see all over town. Inside the wí·hăhn (sanctuary) that fronts it are important, though highly damaged, early-20th-century murals.

When leaving or arriving at the temple follow Thanon Suwanmunee through the old teak house district, now filled with lottery vendors, for a picture-postcard view of the prang from the bridge. There are historical signs in front of some of the notable buildings on this street and Th Klongkrachang.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Phetchaburi attractions

1. Shadow Puppet Museum

0.08 MILES

Not a fully fledged museum, rather there are 32 large năng yài shadow puppets, made by the former abbot, displayed on light boxes in Wat Plabplachai's old…

3. Wat Yang

0.24 MILES

This temple west of the city centre has a century-old hŏr đrai (sacred manuscript library) on stilts in a pond to protect the contents against termites…

4. Wat Yai Suwannaram

0.43 MILES

This expansive temple, founded in the late Ayuthaya era, holds quite a bit of history. Foremost are the faded murals inside the beautiful bòht (ordination…

6. Wat Kamphaeng Laeng

0.59 MILES

A 13th-century remnant of the time when the Angkor (Khmer) kingdom stretched from present-day Cambodia all the way to the Malay peninsula, this shrine was…

8. Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park

0.75 MILES

This national historical park sits regally atop Khao Wang (Palace Hill), surveying the city with subdued opulence. Rama IV built the palace and dozens of…