Krol Romeas

Krol Romeas (Khmer: ក្រោលរមាស) is an arena delimited by a thick laterite wall, found mid-way along the road leading from the north gate of Angkor Thom to the western entrance of Preah Khan Temple.

It is believed to be a kraal, an enclosure where elephants captured in the wild were kept to be trained.  The name of the site should therefore be Krol Damrei (damrei being the Khmer word for elephant) but, for some reason, local tradition gave it the name of Krol Romeas, meaning 'the park of the rhinoceros'.

The king, seated in the wooden pavilions that dominated the arena, probably came here to watch the training of the animals.  Large circular holes on the top of the wall, in which wood poles were erected to support the pavilions, can still be seen.

Map of Krol Romeas