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Although now largely absorbed by greater Kathmandu, PATAN was once the capital of a powerful independent kingdom, and still maintains a defiantly distinct identity. Compared to Kathmandu it's quieter, less frenetic and more Buddhist (there may be a correlation). Sophisticated and, in a Nepali sort of way, bohemian, it's Kathmandu's Left Bank: while Kathmanduites are busy amassing power and wealth, Patan's residents appreciate the finer things of life, which perhaps explains Patan's poetic alternate name, LALITPUR ("City of Beauty"). Above all, it remains a proud city of artisans . Patan produces much of Nepal's fine metalwork (the sounds of tapping and filing ring out from workshops all over town), and its craftspeople have created some of the most extraordinarily lavish temples, hiti and bahal in the country. Bahal - their doorways here always guarded by cuddly stone lions with unscary overbites - are a particular feature of Patan, and a few still function as active monasteries. In the past two decades, Patan has also emerged as the de facto foreign aid capital of Nepal: the UN offices and diverse smaller organizations are scattered around the western suburbs, as are the residences of many expats who commute to the big USAID headquarters just across the river.

In legend and fact, Patan is the oldest city in the valley. Manjushri , the great lake-drainer, is supposed to have founded Manjupatan, the forerunner of Patan, right after he enshrined Swayambhu, while the so-called Ashokan stupas, earthen mounds standing at four cardinal points around Patan, seem to support the legend that the Indian emperor Ashoka visited the valley in the third century BC (historians are sceptical). More reliable legend ascribes Patan's founding to King Arideva in 299 AD. By the seventh century Patan had emerged as the cultural and artistic capital of Nepal, if not the entire Himalayan region. It maintained strong links with the Buddhist centres of learning in Bengal and Bihar - thereby playing a role in the transmission of Buddhism to Tibet - and when these fell to the Muslims in the twelfth century, many scholars and artists fled to Patan, setting the stage for a renaissance under the later Malla kings . Patan existed as part of a unified valley kingdom until the late fifteenth century, then enjoyed equal status with Kathmandu and Bhaktapur as a sovereign state until 1769, when Prithvi Narayan Shah and his Gorkhali band conquered the valley and chose Kathmandu for their capital.

One of Patan's charms is that its historic core is frozen much as it was at the time of defeat. However, see it while you can. Although a number of temples and public monuments have been skilfully restored in the past decade, the city has lost many of its older private buildings. Here, as in Kathmandu, most owners of traditional old houses hope to replace them with more comfortable, modern concrete ones, and to finance the redevelopment by selling off their antique wooden window and door frames