A reddish-brown sandstone tower at the intersection of Norodom and Sihanouk Boulevards, ringed by serpent balustrades and rising over a wide traffic circle. Built in 1958 and unveiled in 1962, it commemorates Cambodia's independence from France nine years earlier.
The monument is best seen at dusk, when it is floodlit and the surrounding park fills with locals exercising, families on scooters, and street vendors selling cut fruit. It is the focal point of national ceremonies and a useful navigational landmark — almost every tuk-tuk driver in the city knows it as "Vimean Ekareach".