Patuxai

Patuxai (Lao: ປະຕູໄຊ, literally meaning Victory Gate or Gate of Triumph, formerly the Anousavary or Anosavari Monumentm known by the French asMonument Aux Morts) is a war monument in the centre of Vientiane, Laos, which was built between 1957 and 1968. Patuxai is dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. In romanising the name from the Laotian language, it is variously transliterated as Patuxai, Patuxay, Patousai and Patusai. It is also given the name of Patuxai Arch or the Asian version of Arc de Triomphe of Vientiane as it has general resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris; however, it is typically Laotian in design, decorated with many Buddhist mythological figurines such as ofkinnari (half-female, half-bird figures)

Patuxai is a compound word where ‘Patuu’ or ‘patu’ means “door” or “gateway” or “gate” and ‘Xai’, a derivative of the Sanskrit word ‘Jaya’, which means “victory” that form the word “Victory gate”. Patuxai was built during the turbulent history of Laos. The monument was known as "Anousavali" (literal meaning "memory") when the monument was built after World War II in memory of the Laotian soldiers who died in various wars, and during independence from France in 1949, which was an era of the monarchy in the country.

The monument was built using American funds and in the 1960s cement actually originally intended to build an airfield during the Vietnam War was used in the structure. The United States had given Laos money to build a new city airport. However, the Laotian government of the day used the money to build the monument instead. As a consequence, the monument is sometimes referred to as the "vertical runway".

The monument was designed by the architect Mr. Tham Sayasthsena, a Laotian citizen. In 1957, the plans submitted by Sayasthsena to build the monument to the Royal Palace office in Luang Prabang Province were selected out of the many designs submitted by the Public Works Department, the Military Engineering Department, and many private architects. He was given a fee of 30,000 kips for the design. The original cost of building the monument, which was started in 1957, was estimated as 63 million kips.

In 1975, with the Pathet Lao taking the reins of power in Laos, the name of the monument was changed to Patuxai, to mean “victory gate”.