The most impressive palaces in the world (25 photos)
This photo collection includes the most grandiose and beautiful palaces in the world: Buckingham Palace, the official royal residence since 1837, the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, built from 700 thousand tons of steel and bronze, the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, the Italian Palace in Caserta and many other. Let's see! 
Lake Palace, Udaipur, India 
This beautiful architectural structure, which looks like it floats on water, was built between 1743 and 1746 as the summer residence of Maharana Jai Singh II of Udaipur, Rajasthan. Its luxurious rooms are decorated with crystal, stained glass and mosaics. Currently, the palace houses a hotel.
Buckingham Palace, London, UK 
The building was built in the early 18th century for the 3rd Earl of Mulgrave, John of Sheffield. Since 1837 it has been the official London residence of British monarchs. George III bought it in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte and the palace was named Queen's House. Over the years it has been significantly expanded. Today it has 775 rooms - 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.
Doge's Palace, Venice, Italy 
Built in the first half of the 14th century, it served as the residence of the Doges and the seat of the Venetian government for several centuries until the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. This Gothic masterpiece was opened as a public museum in 1923. One of its attractions is the Great Council Hall - one of the largest halls in Europe today. Its length is 53 m and its width is 25 m.
Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet 
The highest palace in the world is located at an altitude of 3699 meters above sea level. The palace was built in 1649 and served as the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas until 1959. It was then opened as a museum, although practicing monks still live there. It houses the 14.85 m high memorial stupa of the fifth Dalai Lama, covered with four tons of gold.
National Palace, Sintra, Portugal 
The National Palace in the Portuguese resort town of Sintra can be seen from afar. It was built in 1854 and is considered a prime example of European Romantic architecture. The main attraction and symbol of Sintra.
Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Türkiye 
Built by Mehmet the Conqueror in the mid-15th century, this palace was home to the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, the government decided to turn it into a museum.
Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France 
The Palace of Versailles was originally a hunting lodge designed by Louis XIII, but his son, Louis XIV, rebuilt and expanded the building, making it truly grand. Since 1682, the palace was the residence of French monarchs until the French Revolution. At the beginning of the 19th century it was turned into a museum. Versailles has 2,300 rooms with a total area of 63,154 square meters. m. The palace is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Mysore Palace, Karnataka, India 
This stunning palace in the southern Indian state of Karnataka was built in 1912 for the Wodeyar dynasty, which ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1399 to 1947. Built in the Indo-Saracenic style with domes, towers, arches and colonnades, the palace is often compared to Buckingham Palace due to its grandeur. The building was designed by British architect Henry Irwin.
Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany 
The palace was built in 1745-47 for Frederick the Great as his summer residence. One of the unique features of Sans Souci is the terraced vineyard on the southern slope of the Bornstädter ridge, six levels of which are connected by 132 steps.
Palace of Parliament, Bucharest, Romania 
The building was built between 1984 and 1997 and is the second largest administrative building in the world by area after the American Pentagon. The area of the palace is 365,000 square meters. In addition, it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the heaviest building on the planet, the construction of which took 700,000 tons of steel and bronze, 1 million cubic meters of marble, 3,500 tons of crystal and 900,000 cubic meters of wood.
Royal Palace in Caserta, Italy 
This large-scale Baroque palace was commissioned by Charles III, King of Naples, in the mid-18th century as a royal residence and rival to the Palace of Versailles. Construction took several decades. The building has more than 1,200 rooms and 1,742 windows. It is also known that the palace also had an "outrageously high value", namely 6 million ducats.
Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, India 
The Umaid Bhawan Palace in Rajasthan, considered the sixth largest private estate in the world, took 15 years to build and was completed in 1943. It was built by the royal family of Jodhpur and designed by the famous British architect Henry Lanchester. Today the palace is divided into three parts - a luxury hotel with 70 rooms, a museum displaying the collections of the royal family, and a residence for the descendants of the Maharaja.
Alhambra, Granada, Spain 
Built on a hill overlooking Granada, the Alhambra is a magnificent example of Moorish architecture. The palace was built between 1238 and 1358 on the site of a previous fortress. One of its attractions is a room known as the "Gallery of Whispers". The curvature of her ceiling causes sound to travel from one corner of the room to another.
Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria 
This huge structure began life as a 16th-century mansion, then became a hunting lodge and then a palace surrounded by picturesque gardens. One of the interesting facts about the palace is that it was here in 1762 that six-year-old Mozart performed his first concerts for the royal family. Joseph Haydn also visited the palace as a singer in a musical production.
Iolani Palace, Honolulu, Hawaii 
Iolani Palace, which is open to tourists, claims to be the only official royal residence in the United States. From 1882 to 1893, it served as the official residence of the last two monarchs of the Kingdom of Hawaii: King Kalākaua and his sister and successor Queen Liliuokalani.
Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi, UAE 
Qasr al-Watan, completed in 2017, is a working presidential palace but is also open to the public. Its doors, inlaid with 23-karat gold and maple wood, took 700 hours of work to create. The Great Hall contains one of the largest domes in the world with a diameter of 37 meters.
Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand 
The magnificent Grand Palace, built in 1782, is a complex of buildings in the center of Bangkok, consisting of royal residences, throne rooms, administrative offices and sacred temples. Open to the public daily from 8:30 to 15:30.
Hampton Court, London, UK 
This magnificent palace, built in the early 16th century, was commissioned by Cardinal Wolsey, but later attracted King Henry VIII of England and was given to him as a gift. The palace houses the world's largest surviving kitchens of the 16th century, in which 200 cooks worked day and night to feed all the guests of the hospitable king.
Escorial, Spain 
El Escorial is a monastery, palace and residence of King Philip II of Spain. Construction of the building took 21 years and was completed in 1584. Today, El Escorial is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Spain's most visited attractions.
Forbidden City, Beijing, China 
The Forbidden City, built in 1420, is one of the largest palace complexes in the world. The total area of all structures is about 150,000 square meters. meters. The complex includes more than 90 palaces, 980 buildings and more than 8,728 rooms.
Royal Palace, Amsterdam, Netherlands 
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is located in the heart of the Dutch capital and dates back to the mid-17th century. It was originally built as a town hall, but was converted into a palace in the early 19th century by King Louis Napoleon. Since then, it has been used as an official palace for royal receptions for almost 200 years.
Royal Palace Istana Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
The Royal Palace of Malaysia opened in 2011 and replaced the old palace, which was turned into a national museum. The building has 22 golden domes and cost 800 million ringgit ($1.85 million) to build.
