Grand Palace

Grand Palace, complex of buildings within walls in Bangkok, Thailand. It has been the official and ceremonial residence of the country’s kings since it was originally built in 1782. This major architectural symbol of the Thai royal family is also the city’s premier tourist attraction.

The Grand Palace is a walled city within a city. It covers an area of 2.4 million square feet (218,400 sq m) and is surrounded by four walls totaling 6,234 feet (1,900 m) in length. These walls enclose more than 100 brightly colored buildings, golden spires, and glittering mosaics, topped by a profusion of stylized, slanting, multilayered roofs—some with statues of Garuda (the bird-human vehicle of the Hindu god Vishnu) on the corners—as well as towers and stupas. King Rama I had the Grand Palace built in 1782 when he founded Bangkok as Siam’s capital city. It was expanded and improved by subsequent monarchs, most notably during the reigns of Rama IV and Rama V (King Chulalongkorn).

To one’s left upon entering the compound through the main gate is the Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha—Thailand’s most sacred temple. Within is the small Emerald Buddha, which is actually made of jasper and is atop a multi-tiered throne and inside a glass box. Other notable buildings within the compound include Boromabiman Hall, built by King Rama VI and where every subsequent king has lived at some point in their life. Amarin Vinichai Hall is an intriguing blend of European and Thai architecture and has a very spacious European-style reception room with a glistening gold throne.

More modern palaces for the king’s use began to be built outside the Grand Palace compound by the 1920s, and the Grand Palace ceased to be a royal residence, though it remains in use for royal ceremonies and to host foreign dignitaries. About the time Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, the Grand Palace was opened for tourism.