2,000 temples on the Irrawaddy plain — one of the great archaeological landscapes on earth
Bagan is an ancient city on the banks of the Irrawaddy River that contains over 2,000 surviving Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries spread across a 40-square-kilometre plain — the remnant of what was once over 10,000 structures built during the Pagan Empire's peak between the 11th and 13th centuries. At sunrise, hot air balloons drift silently above the temple spires while monks in saffron robes cycle the dirt paths below. It is one of the most extraordinary archaeological landscapes on earth.
Bagan was the capital of the Pagan Empire from 849 CE to 1297 CE — the first dynasty to unify most of present-day Myanmar. During its peak under King Anawrahta and his successors, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, stupas, and monasteries were built across the Bagan plain, funded by tribute from conquered kingdoms and donations from a deeply devout Theravada Buddhist society. The empire collapsed in 1297 under Mongol invasion, and the capital was abandoned; subsequent earthquakes (including 1975 and 2016) damaged thousands of structures, though the landscape remains overwhelming in its scale.