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The city of AYUTTHAYA , 80km north of Bangkok, was founded in 1351, and by the mid-fifteenth century had wrested power from the kingdom of Sukhothai to become the capital of an empire covering most of the area of modern-day Thailand. Ayutthaya grew into an enormous amphibious city, which by 1685 had one million people - roughly double the population of London at the same time - living largely on houseboats in a 140-kilometre network of waterways. In 1767, this 400-year-long golden age of prosperity came to an abrupt end when the Burmese captured and ravaged Ayutthaya, and the city was abandoned to the jungle. The core of the ancient capital was a four-kilometre-wide island at the confluence of the Lopburi, Pasak and Chao Phraya rivers; a grid of broad roads now crosses the island, and the hub of the small, modern town rests on its northeast bank. The majority of Ayutthaya's ancient remains are spread out across the western half of the island in a patchwork of parkland. Distances are deceptively large, but guesthouses rent out bicycles (B50 per day)
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