Phra Sumen Fort

In front of you rises Phra Sumen Fort, an eight-sided white tower that once guarded the river and the northern approach to the city. It is one of only two forts that survive from Bangkok's original wall.

1A walled city

After founding the capital in 1782, Rama I surrounded it with a moat and a wall more than seven kilometres long, with fourteen forts and dozens of gates. Siam had just lived through the destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767, and nobody wanted a repeat. This fort went up in 1783, where the Banglamphu canal meets the river, and was named after Mount Sumeru, the sacred mountain at the centre of the universe.

2What survived

As the city grew in the late 19th century, the wall was gradually torn down to make way for streets. Today only two of Rama I's forts remain, this one and Mahakan Fort near the Golden Mount, along with a few stretches of wall. The tower you see was rebuilt in 1981 for the city's bicentenary, and in 2000 Santichaiprakan Park opened around it.

The district is called Banglamphu after the lamphu, a mangrove tree that once grew along the banks; one of the last specimens survives in the park.

3What to look for

• The rounded battlements, typical of Siamese fortifications.
• The gun ports set into the white walls.
• The pavilion in the park, with views of the river and the Rama VIII Bridge.