Entry tower of the temple complex

At the end of the walkway is another entrance and a large enclosing wall that extends around a rectangular moat. And at the end of the raised embankment between the two halves of the moat, we found another laterite enclosing wall.

The temple complex was rediscovered only in 1914, and was the subject of a celebrated case of art theft when André Malraux stole four devatas in 1923 (he was soon arrested and the figures returned).

The incident stimulated interest in the site, which was cleared the following year, and in the 1930s Banteay Srei was restored in the first important use of anastylosis at Angkor. Until the discovery of the foundation stela in 1936, it had been assumed that the extreme decoration indicated a later date than was in fact the case.