Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima District · TH

Khorat City Wall (Ancient Fortifications of Nakhon Ratchasima)

The Khorat City Wall (กำแพงเมืองโคราช) is the surviving heart of Nakhon Ratchasima's old fortified town, a rectangular walled city raised in the 17th century on the orders of King Narai the Great of Ayutthaya. Designed by French military engineers and built with brick, laterite and a ring of water-filled moat, it turned Khorat into a frontier stronghold guarding Siam's northeastern approaches. The section along Polsean Road sits on the old northern side of the enceinte, near the rebuilt Pratu Phl Saen (also called the Water Gate). Little of the original brick rampart is left standing today, but the wall and moat are still registered as a national ancient monument, and a walk around the old city traces its shape: a rectangle some 1,000 by 1,700 metres, once ringed by 15 forts and four gates, with a wooden watchtower crowning each gateway. Of the four gates only the western Chumphol Gate (Pratu Chumphon) survives in its original form; the north, east and south gates you pass today are faithful reconstructions that mark the old entrances.