Chiang Mai was an independent kingdom for 500 years, a Burmese province for 200, and only fully absorbed into Siam in 1939. This route follows that arc through earthen ramparts, an 82m ruined chedi, royal cremation grounds and the tombs of its last dynasty.
King Mangrai's first temple, founded 1296 at his construction camp. The Chang Lom chedi rests on 15 stucco elephants; the wihan holds the crystal Phra Setangkamani and the stone Phra Sila relief. A 1581 stone inscription in the compound records the city's founding date.
Muslim-run since 1945 in the Ban Ho quarter settled by Chin Haw caravan traders from Yunnan — the community that carried khao soi into Lanna. Beef or chicken khao soi 60-70 THB, khao mok kai (biryani) 60 THB, roti 25 THB. Open 08:00-17:00 daily.
Begun 1391 under King Saen Muang Ma, raised to 82m by King Tilokarat, who housed the Emerald Buddha here 1468-1551. The 1545 earthquake sheared off the upper third. The Inthakhin pillar, moved here in 1800, is the city's guardian foundation stone.
The outer earthen wall of 1517, built as a crescent shield on the vulnerable southeast side against Ayutthaya and Burmese attack. Long unrestored stretches of laterite and packed earth survive behind Chiang Mai Gate market, with the moat's original width still readable.
Housed in the 1935 colonial-style provincial court behind the Three Kings Monument. Reconstructs Lanna funerary customs, monastic ordination, lacquerware and the sixteen-month Lanna ritual calendar. Open Tue-Sun 08:30-17:00, closed Mondays.
Bronze group of 1983 showing Mangrai of Lanna with his allies Ngam Muang of Phayao and Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai, the three rulers who chose this site in 1296. Locals lay jasmine garlands and lit candles at the plinth every evening.
Founded 1370 by King Kue Na in the Sukhothai king's pleasure garden. The whitewashed cluster of chedis holds the ashes of the Chao Chet Ton dynasty — Chiang Mai's rulers to 1939 — relocated here in 1909 from the demolished royal cremation field.
The east bank where Chinese, Muslim and British-Burmese teak traders settled from the 1860s. Wat Ket's small museum holds donated household objects, and the surrounding lanes keep 19th-century teak shophouses and the old missionary compounds.
Founded 1383 when a relic-bearing white elephant halted on the mountain. The 24m gilded chedi sits at 1,073m; the 306-step naga staircase was funded in 1557 by a Burmese-era donor. The road up was hand-built in 1935 by villagers under monk Khruba Siwichai.
Wualai was settled by silversmiths deported from Burmese Shan territory in the early 1800s. Wat Sri Suphan's ubosot, clad entirely in repoussé silver and aluminium since 2008, was worked by the neighbourhood's remaining smiths, several of whom still hammer in open workshops nearby.
Mangrai's first capital, founded 1286 and abandoned after repeated Ping River flooding buried it in silt — rediscovered in 1984. Some 40 excavated sites, with Wat Chedi Liam's stepped Mon-style tower and Wat Chang Kham's brick foundations the most complete.
Built 1297 by Mangrai for the forest monk Thera Jan, whose wanderings led the king to line the hillside with brick tunnels painted with birds and flowers so the monk could meditate without straying. Traces of the original murals survive inside the vaults.