Wat Benchamabophit

A temple of gleaming white marble stands among gardens, its symmetrical halls and golden roofs reflected in a still canal, more orderly and European in feeling than the older temples of the city. This is Wat Benchamabophit, widely known as the Marble Temple, one of the most elegant religious buildings in Bangkok.

It is younger than many of the great temples, built around the turn of the twentieth century under a reforming king who had travelled in Europe and wanted a temple that blended Thai tradition with the order and symmetry he admired abroad.

Its name comes from the pale marble that faces it, imported from Italy, which gives the temple its bright, clean, almost luminous look, quite different from the gilded and tiled surfaces of older temples. The marble courtyards and steps are part of its calm appeal.

The main hall is a careful balance of Thai and Western ideas, with a traditional tiered, golden roof above marble walls, stained-glass windows, and a symmetry unusual in older Thai temples. Inside sits a revered Buddha image, a copy of a famous older one.

Around the courtyard behind the hall runs a gallery displaying dozens of bronze Buddha images, gathered from across the country and the wider region, showing the many styles and postures of the Buddha in one place, a kind of open-air lesson in sacred art.

A canal and gardens surround the temple, with bridges and trees, and the reflection of the white halls in the still water is one of the classic images of the city. The setting is as carefully composed as the building.

The temple is so admired that it has appeared on the country's coins, a sign of how completely it is seen as a model of its kind, the elegant meeting of tradition and modern order.

It remains a working temple with a community of monks, and early morning sees the monks receiving alms, a quiet daily ritual that visitors may witness respectfully.

Because it is a little away from the busiest tourist temples, it is often calmer, so it rewards a visit for its peace as much as its beauty, a cool, ordered contrast to the crowded riverside sights.

The temple sits in a district of old royal and government buildings and leafy avenues, so it pairs with a wander through a grander, quieter part of the old city.

A few practical notes. Entry carries a small charge; dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and remove shoes in the hall. Early morning is best for the light on the marble and for seeing the monks.

Stand by the canal and take in the white halls and golden roofs reflected in the water, then step into the calm marble courtyard among the bronze Buddhas. Wat Benchamabophit is the city's most graceful blend of east and west. When you walk back out into the avenues, its bright order stays with you.