Visit Wat Chulamanee (Phitsanulok)

Wat Chulamani is one of the oldest temples in Phitsanulok Province. It marks the site of the ancient city of Phitsanulok. Today, you can see there the ruins of the ancient brick temple including a chedi and a Buddha foortprint. The former monastery, an Ayutthaya-style building is quite similar to the Wat Rachaburana Monastery. Wat Chulamanee hosts several important Ayutthaya Buddha statues, Sukhothai and Chiang Saen. The most important is Luang Pho Phet sheltered in a small sanctuary. The eyes and the knot of the statue were adorned with diamonds which gave it its name. 'Phet' in Thai means 'diamond'. However, the diamonds were stolen.
The viharn is almost all the time closed except for some big Buddhist festival but its doors and windows decorated with mother of pearl have really beautiful illustrations. This is personally what has impressed me the most when visiting this temple. That and the decorations surrounding most of the tree trunks of Wat Chula Manee.