Pom Phet fortress, Ayutthaya

King Ramatipbodi (King U-Thong, 1st king of Ayutthaya) built the earth wall (with mud from the canals) around the city. In 1549 King Mahajakapat (15th king) changed the earth wall into brick work.

In their prime time, the city walls were 12km long, 5m wide, and 6m high. They included 16 forts and 99 gates. If you walk along U-Thong Road you can still find many traces of these walls.

In 1580, new walls were built around the city, and Pom Phet was constructed around this time. Portuguese and French engineers contributed to the thicker and better reinforced style of walls.

Pom Phet, located at the point where Pasak River and Chao Phraya River gather, protected a harbour where foreign ships were forced to anchor for inspection and unloading.

For the record, in 1767, the Burmese were unable to penetrate Ayutthaya from this fortress. The city walls were finally breached on the north-east side of the main island (at the Mahachai fortress, near the present day Hua Ror Market).

After the fall of Ayutthaya, King Rama I moved bricks of city wall to built Bangkok.

Around 1957, the government did some reconstruction like nowadays.