Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Cambodia Krong Battambang Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau

Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau

Limestone caves in the Cambodian countryside, once the site of genocide, now a place of peaceful beauty.

Krong Battambang, Cambodia

Added By
Michelle Enemark
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Phnom Sampeau Killing Cave   Matt Van Brink (Atlas Obscura User)
Small Buddha shrine inside the killing cave   shankar s./CC BY 2.0
  shankar s./CC BY 2.0
A painting outside the cave   Christophe95/CC BY-SA 4.0
  ilf/CC BY-SA 2.0
  ronan crawley/CC BY-ND 2.0
A line of bodhisattavas   shankar s./CC BY 2.0
Skulls inside the cave   shankar s./CC BY 2.0
  ronan crawley/CC BY-ND 2.0
  James Antrobus/CC BY 2.0
  ronan crawley/CC BY-ND 2.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau (also known as Phnom Sampov) are a place of beauty, turned tragedy, turned beauty once more.

The cave are located halfway up a mountain which is dotted with beautiful wats, statues, and lookout points over the village below. Macaque monkeys roam the mountainside, and millions of bats can be seen at dusk. Stairways snake up the mountain and back down again into limestone caves and canyons. One of these caves is the Killing Cave. 

From 1975 to 1979, 1.7 million Cambodians were killed at the hands of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge soldiers. These are the bones of doctors, teachers, men, women and children who were killed by the Khmer Rouge at this site. At the top of the cave is the natural skylight which the Khmer Rouge marched people to, lining them up, then bludgeoning them and letting their bodies fall into the darkness below.

The site has now been turned into a memorial to those who lost their lives at this site. The descent into the cave is quite beautiful—the rock is covered in green vegetation and low-hanging vines. The cave is quite large inside, and a huge golden Buddha reclines in the center of the room. But at the bottom of the stairway sits a chicken-wire cage full of bones. The atrocities that took place in this beautiful spot suddenly become very present. To the right is another memorial of human remains, these encased in a glass box. 

Today a mix of mostly Cambodian tourists mills around the cave, and people sing and take pictures. It is a surprisingly jovial atmosphere considering the horror of what took place. But as many Cambodians will explain to you, joy is the best way to move past tragedy.

Related Tags

Caves Skulls Genocide Catacombs And Crypts Ecosystems

Know Before You Go

A hill 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Battambang

Community Contributors

Added By

michelle

Edited By

tylercole, michellecassidy1, Lee Scott

  • tylercole
  • michellecassidy1
  • Lee Scott

Published

March 5, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/86465/Killing-Caves-of-Phnom-Sampeau.htm
Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau
Phnom Sampov
Banan
Krong Battambang
Cambodia
13.016667, 103.066667
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Battambang Bat Cave

Krong Battambang, Cambodia

miles away

Bamboo Trains

Ratanak Mondul, Cambodia

miles away

Well of Shadows

Krong Battambang, Cambodia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Krong Battambang

Krong Battambang

Cambodia

Places 4

Nearby Places

Battambang Bat Cave

Krong Battambang, Cambodia

miles away

Bamboo Trains

Ratanak Mondul, Cambodia

miles away

Well of Shadows

Krong Battambang, Cambodia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Krong Battambang

Krong Battambang

Cambodia

Places 4

Related Places

  • Entry to the crypt.

    Salamanca, Spain

    Cave of Salamanca

    A hidden medieval crypt where a famous legend says the devil used to teach black magic.

  • Paintings on the walls

    Matera, Italy

    The Crypt of the Original Sin

    A cave in southern Italy adorned with thousand-year-old Biblical frescoes existed in obscurity until fairly recently.

  • St Paul’s Catacombs

    Rabat, Malta

    Maltese Catacomb Complexes

    Burial grounds for more than 1,000 bodies deep under the modern town of Rabat.

  • Domus de Janas in Bonnanaro

    Nughedu Santa Vittoria, Italy

    Domus de Janas Tombs

    Ancient cave tombs known as the "houses of fairies."

  • Kyiv, Ukraine

    Kyiv Monastery of the Caves and Microminiature Museum

    This 1000 year old relic-filled cave monastery and UNESCO World Heritage Site also hosts an amazing micro-miniature museum.

  • Hanging coffins.

    Sagada, Philippines

    Hanging Coffins of Sagada

    Hundreds of wooden coffins dangle from cliffs and caves in the Philippines.

  • Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno, CA, 7/13/2019

    Fresno, California

    Forestiere Underground Gardens

    An underground mansion with fruit-bearing trees and grapes growing beneath the surface of central California.

  • Al Hoota Cave

    Al Hamra, Oman

    Al Hoota Cave

    The biggest cave system in the Arabian Peninsula is home to a rare variety of blind fish.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.