Phnom Penh - the capital of Cambodia in the southwestern part of the country, at the mouth of the Tonle Sap River to Mekong. 1.5 million inhabitants (2012).
Where does this name come from? According to a legend, in 1370 a rich lady named Yu Penh, who had a palace on the banks of the Mekong, noticed in the river a huge trunk of Kukui tree. She decided to fish him and with the help of her neighbors, pulled the tree trunk out of the river together. It turned out that inside there were four bronze statues of the Buddha and one stone figurine of the goddess (Prah Noreay).
Mrs. Penh, as well as the neighbors who helped her pull the trunk out of the waters of the Mekong, treated this phenomenon as a harbinger of successful events. They placed the statues of Buddha and goddess in a hurriedly built chapel, and a few years later they started building a hill to honour this find in a special way. That's how the mountain was created - named Phnom Daun Penh (Mountain of Mrs. Penh). It is an artificially built hill towering over the city, which is 27 meters high. Also in the early seventeenth century, when the temple was extended, the monastery of Wat Phnom was added. Large state dignitaries and Khmer kings were buried on the hill.
