The Royal Palace in Luang Prabang was built for King Sisavanvong between 1904 and 1909 during the French colonial period.
It became the National Museum after the monarchy was dissolved by the Communist Pathet Lao in 1975.
The Haw Pha Bang (photograph), a royal temple, was begun in 1963, but its construction was delayed when the Communists took power.
Construction resumed when a less restrictive policy towards Buddhist worship emerged in the 1990s.