17.9762°N, 102.6343°E.
Pha That Luang is the great national stupa of Laos, located on the eastern outskirts of Vientiane. The current monument was constructed in 1566 CE under King Setthathirath after he relocated the Lan Xang capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, replacing earlier Khmer and Mon brick foundations on the site that may date to the 3rd century CE. The stupa rises 45 metres in three terraced levels topped by a tall central spire originally covered in gold leaf. The base is a square 85 metres on a side, surrounded by a cloistered enclosure of 30 smaller subsidiary stupas. The monument has suffered repeated destruction and rebuilding: a Siamese army sacked the stupa in 1828, and French colonial authorities undertook a major reconstruction beginning in 1900 based on earlier French sketches by Louis Delaporte from the 1860s. Pha That Luang appears on the national seal and currency of Laos.
The gilt central spire is regilded periodically, the most recent coating completed in time for the annual That Luang Festival.