Wat Sakae, or the Monastery of the Takeo Bushwillow (1), was located in the southwestern area of Ayutthaya’s city island in the Pratu Chai sub-district, north of the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park. The site is part of the Ayutthaya Historical Park.
Wat Sakae was situated on the bank of an ancient canal system likely altered by the construction of the Somdet Phra Sri Nakharin Park.
Historical data about the monastery and its construction are not known.
We found an unexcavated brick mound covered in vegetation about two-hundred-meter south of a remaining stretch of the Tha Phra Canal (2).
After studying the maps, this position corresponds with Wat Sakae on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map drafted in 1926 CE.
The former monastery is indicated on a map of the Fine Arts Department [FAD] drafted in 1993 CE, north of the restored ruin of Wat Wang Chai and west of Wat Hoi Khong and features as well on the FAD 2007 CE map.
A monastery in the same location and situated between Wat Maha Saman and Wat Hoi Khong was named Wat Khon on a 19th-century map by an unknown surveyor.
The site is in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 40.58" N, 100° 32' 54.82" E.
Footnotes:
(1) Scientific name: Combretum Quadrangulare.
(2) Khlong Tha Phra, also known as Khlong Klaep, is a defunct canal situated on Ayutthaya's city island. Some stretches of this old canal still can be seen today on the western side. The canal had its mouth at the old Lopburi River, today renamed the Chao Phraya River. Here stood one of the eleven water gates around the island called Pratu Khlong Tha Phra. The canal ended at the confluence with Khlong Chakrai Yai. Beyond this confluence, it continued in an eastern direction as Khlong Pa Mo and joined the Pratu Thep Mi Canal. There is evidence that this canal continued eastwards in a straight line to join Khlong Makham Riang.
