Olympic Stadium

Modernist 1964 sports complex by Vann Molyvann, still alive at sunset

Built in 1964 and now usually called by its Khmer name Stade Olympique, this concrete sports complex is one of the great works of Vann Molyvann's New Khmer Architecture. The stadium never hosted an Olympics — it was built for the GANEFO games that were ultimately cancelled — but its dramatic terraced bowls, ramps and water features are still in use for football matches, school athletics and military parades.

The best time to come is around 17:00 on any weekday, when dozens of public aerobics classes set up in the surrounding concourse and the stands fill with joggers. Bring a few thousand riel and join the back row of a class for an hour.

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A story
Vann Molyvann's stadium was built to host the cancelled 1963 GANEFO Games — an Indonesian-led alternative to the IOC Olympics for newly independent Asian and African nations. The Khmer Rouge later used the concourses for public executions. The terraces are still a daily gathering spot for the city's aerobics groups, who fill the stands with synchronised lunges every evening at five.