This temple was originally built in 1565 to hold the "Emerald Buddha" ("Pha Kaew" in Laotian) taken from Lanna. The Thais took the image back in 1779 and it has stayed since then in Bangkok. The temple was destroyed by the Thais in the 1828 war but rebuilt in 1936-1942. Now this is a museum containing some of the best Buddhist sculpture in Laos.