The Khmers established a settlement here in the late 14th century. Phnom Penh was abandoned and reoccupied several times before it became Cambodia's capital in 1867. The city was resettled during the 1980s, and some of its cultural and educational institutions reopened. Once a picturesque Asian city with a French colonial atmosphere, Phnom Penh is slowly attracting tourists again. Wat Phnom is one of the capital's major landmarks.
Monkeys live in the trees around the hill, and elephant rides are a popular sunday event.
The Tuol Sleng museum was once a high school, taken over by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into the infamous Security Prison 21. The mass graves of those sent here from the S-21 prison were exhumed in 1980. More than 8,000 skulls of those beaten to death have been arranged behind glass screens according to age and sex. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are about 15 km south-west of downtown Phnom Penh. Angkor Wat was built under King Suryavarman II, who reigned from 1113 to 1150.