Choeung Ek and the memorial landscape of the Killing Fields
Published on 09/19/2026 at 08:52 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Choeung Ek on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in Cambodia is a former Khmer Rouge killing field that has been turned into a memorial landscape centred on a tall Buddhist stupa filled with human remains. The site lies in Dangkao District south of central Phnom Penh, in an area that was once a cultivated orchard and a Chinese cemetery, and it is closely linked to the former S-21 prison at Tuol Sleng.Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre
Orchard ground and mass graves
Walking into Choeung Ek today means stepping into a largely open field where low trees, grassed areas and shallow depressions in the earth mark the terrain of an old orchard. Before the Khmer Rouge period the ground formed part of a Chinese cemetery and orchard, and this existing landscape became the backdrop for the killings that took place here in the late 1970s.orchard and Chinese cemetery Open pits and grassed mounds break the surface, indicating the positions of mass graves that were excavated after the fall of the regime.
Excavations carried out in 1980 uncovered thousands of bodies in these pits, and work at the site identified 129 mass graves within the wider field.mass exhumations at Choeung Ek From these graves, the remains of 8,985 people were reportedly removed and later preserved, while a significant number of graves were deliberately left undisturbed. Low boundaries, simple markers and information boards now frame some of the depressions, making it clear where communal graves lie beneath the grass. The ground retains its orchard character, but the regular pattern of pits and markers changes the way the landscape is read, turning an agricultural field into an open-air memorial.
The glass-sided Buddhist stupa
At the centre of Choeung Ek stands a tall Buddhist stupa that has become the most recognisable structure on the site. Rising above the open ground, the stupa follows the general form of Cambodian religious architecture, with a layered base and tapering roof, but its sides are made of large glass panels rather than solid masonry.Memorial Stupa at Choeung Ek Inside, shelves rise through the interior, holding exhumed human remains that visitors can see through the transparent walls.
The memorial stupa was erected in 1988 to house the remains taken from the surrounding graves and to honour the victims of the Khmer Rouge.Buddhist stupa filled with skulls More than 8,000 skulls are arranged on multiple levels behind clear panels, reportedly organised by age and sex, and bones fill further tiers above and below. The effect is both architectural and archival: the stupa reads as a religious structure when seen from afar, yet closer inspection reveals shelves of human remains, turning the building into a vertical catalogue of the dead. The combination of traditional outline and transparent sides means that the interior remains visible from outside, and the stupa forms a focal point for annual commemorations.
From S-21 prison to the execution site
Choeung Ek is closely connected to the history of the Tuol Sleng security centre, known as S-21, in central Phnom Penh. During the Democratic Kampuchea period most of the prisoners held at S-21 were taken out of the city to Choeung Ek for execution, creating a direct link between the interrogation rooms of the prison and the mass graves in the orchard south of the capital.former S-21 and Choeung Ek The site therefore forms one part of a wider landscape of genocide around Phnom Penh.
Estimates suggest that over 17,000 men, women and children who had passed through S-21 were killed and buried at Choeung Ek between the mid-1970s and 1979.numbers of victims at Choeung Ek Trucks transported detainees to the field, where executions were carried out and bodies interred in pits across the former orchard. After Vietnamese forces entered Cambodia in 1979, the graves at Choeung Ek were identified and later exhumed, and the ground became one of several local genocide memorials created in the 1980s. Together with Tuol Sleng, Choeung Ek stands as a physical record of the Cambodian genocide and of the policies implemented by Pol Pot’s regime.
Visiting Choeung Ek: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Choeung Ek lies south of central Phnom Penh in Dangkao District, beyond the city’s built-up edge, and is reached by road from the capital.
- The ground at Choeung Ek is largely level but uneven in places, with open earth, grass and shallow depressions where mass graves were excavated, so sturdy footwear is advisable.
- The site stands in Cambodia, where the official language is Khmer and the currency is the riel.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
Searching for Choeung Ek on social platforms
These links open searches for Choeung Ek on each platform.Frequently asked questions about Choeung Ek
Where is Choeung Ek located?
Choeung Ek lies in Dangkao District south of central Phnom Penh in Cambodia, on ground that was once an orchard and Chinese cemetery.
What can visitors expect on a visit?
Visitors encounter an open field marked by mass graves, together with a glass-sided Buddhist stupa that houses thousands of skulls and bones recovered from the site.
What makes Choeung Ek distinctive among Khmer Rouge sites?
Choeung Ek combines preserved graves in an orchard landscape with a tall memorial stupa displaying exhumed remains, forming one of the best-known Killing Fields linked to the former S-21 prison.
