Chanthaburi attractions Built in 1711 by Vietnamese Catholics and a French priest, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was expanded several times and had the present Neo-Gothic structure constructed in 1905. It is believed that the French army tooklaterite bricks from the ancient city of Muang Phaniat to make the base of the church. The church is among the top attractions of Chanthaburi. Apart from original stained-glass windows and floor tiles from France, a statue of the Virgin Mary is the centre of attraction.The statue was built by a team from the office of Traditional Arts of the Fine Arts Department as requested by local devotees. They wanted to havethe statue decorated with 238,000sapphires or more than 20,000 caratsin total because Chanthaburi has beenknown as a trading hub of gems.Before leaving the church, don’t forgetto check out its ceilings, which arecolourfully decorated with laces of gemsand jewellery pictures painted by a team from the Office of the Traditional Arts.