French Colonial Riverfront

Battambang's French colonial centre is concentrated along the Sangkae River and the streets radiating from the old French-era market building. The town's grid of shophouses, administrative buildings, and residential villas was built between roughly 1910 and 1940, and has survived relatively intact because Battambang was never a prime target for rapid modernization.

The riverside itself is pleasant for walking at any hour. Key buildings include the old Battambang railway station (now disused as the national rail network has been scaled back), several ornate French administrative buildings, and the art deco-inflected commercial architecture along Street 2.5. Battambang has also become one of Cambodia's small centres for contemporary art; several galleries and circus schools have opened in the colonial-era buildings in recent years.

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Battambang was the capital of a Thai-administered province until 1907, when it was ceded to French Indochina following diplomatic pressure. The French spent the next three decades building a proper colonial town — the grid of streets, the riverside promenade, and the ornate administrative buildings all date from this relatively brief period of intensive development, which explains why the colonial architecture is notably well-preserved compared to larger cities.

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