# Eastern Palaces vs Western Palaces



## Saigonese (Dec 31, 2004)

I'm talking about the imperial and royal palaces of various emperors and monarchs of the East (Asia) and the West (Europe).

The question is, quick ones are of more grandeur than the other?

Also please post pics so others could see.


----------



## Chopinhower (May 2, 2005)

escorial (spain, europe)















western palaces are the best eastern look like barns


----------



## TallBox (Sep 21, 2002)

doesn't spain have a lot of eastern looking moor-influenced palaces?


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

they are both amazing but I choose Western palaces, do you have pics of Eastern palaces?


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

shaun said:


> doesn't spain have a lot of eastern looking moor-influenced palaces?


 Spain have one of the moust beautifuls (the moust beautiful I supose) Eastern palaces in the world the "Allambra" in Granada but in general the palaces are Western.


----------



## eddyk (Mar 26, 2005)

Buckingham Palace is wwwwwwwicked!



The back yard is da bomb aswell!


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

WOWWWWW it looks nice with the colors of the flag (with out the color too but...)


----------



## Matthieu (Mar 7, 2004)

Versailles


----------



## MILIUX (Sep 13, 2002)

The famous Versailles Palace. The place where historically contentious treaties were signed. i.e. Versailles Treaty.


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

Mafra Royal Palace (Portugal) 4500 windows and doors :eek2:


----------



## loureed (Aug 10, 2003)

The Taj Mahal, Ankor Wat would be Eastern palaces.


----------



## Matthieu (Mar 7, 2004)

Isn't the Taj Mahal a tomb more than a palace?


----------



## Nacho_82 (Feb 13, 2005)

Alhambra of Granada









Palacio Real of Madrid









El Escorial (Madrid)


----------



## LooselogInThePeg (Nov 20, 2004)

From what I've seen I'd generally say I find the Western palace interiors more attractive. The exteriors is somewhat more difficult to say since I see no pictures of the Eastern palaces but recall finding them very attractive.


----------



## M.Poirot (May 8, 2005)

Some Eastern Castles:

Nagoya Castle, Japan



























Himeji Castle, Japan


















Osaka Castle, Japan




































Matsumoto Castle, Nagano, Japan



























Unknown Castle










Inuyama Castle, Aichi, Japan



















Edo Castle, Tokyo, Japan (gone)









Edo Castle is now the Imperial Palace










Odawara Castle, Kanagawa, Japan



















Okayama Castle, Okayama, Japan



























Hikone Castle, Shiga, Japan


















Matsue Castle, Shimane, Japan


















Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto, Japan


















A European Style Castle in Japan! Goryokaku Castle, Hokkaido, Japan (remains)




























Shuri Castle, Okinawa, Japan　(closer to Chinese Castles)




































The Forbidden City, Beijing, China


















I'll leave it to the Chinese forumers to post pics of other Chinese castles, as I'm too lazy.  Same goes for the other Asian countries.

Last castle: 
Lhasa Potala (?), Tibet, China






















































Oh Shit! :eek2:


----------



## M.Poirot (May 8, 2005)

I think, comparing Japanese castles to European castles, the european castles focus more on the grandeur and the actual building itself, while Japanese castles focus on the surrounding nature and the gardens, while the actual castle is pretty simple. This, I think is either simple or sophisticated, depending on your point of view though... Anyway, I love both styles and are examples of unique architecture in any country. But since this is about grandeur, I say European Castles for this one. (this is strictly compared to Japanese castles. I went to some of the palaces in Thailand and Indonesia, and I thought they were very grand.)


----------



## Latoso (Mar 23, 2005)

Versailles by itself could beat all the others combined!


----------



## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

my favourite palace, GRAND PALACE, Bangkok Thailand. They use GOLD!


----------



## Alex Pox (Jan 9, 2005)

I vote for European ones...
But there used to be a very grand one in ancient China(Palace of Qin Kingdom 2000years ago, burnt down, but appears in the movie a couple of times, I don't know how they did it?_?)


----------



## Sen (Nov 13, 2004)

you mean how they burned down?

they just burned down.


----------



## some_stupid_nut (Sep 21, 2003)

Many of the CHinese ones were made of wood. So they are all gone forever.


----------



## Saigonese (Dec 31, 2004)

This is the reconstructed Qin dynasty place, circa 230 B.C


----------



## Saigonese (Dec 31, 2004)

Beijing's Forbidden City:









































Royal throne:


----------



## dcb11 (May 25, 2003)

You are confusing Palaces and Castles. Castles are built for defensive purposes, and thus are more isolated and secure. Compare European CASTLES to Japanese ones if you want, but comparing Himeiji to Versailles is problematic.

It would be better to compare places like Katsura to Versailles, and Himeiji could be compared to somwhere like Windsor or even Neuschwanstein. Forbidden City is almost like a combination of the two, very unique in being heavily fortified, but also very horizontal.


----------



## Saigonese (Dec 31, 2004)

Hue's (Vietnam) Forbidden Purple City complex:


Ngo Mon (Noon Gate)









Hall of Supreme Harmony

















Royal throne in Hall of Supreme Harmony









Royal residence

















Various palace gates:









































Royal pavilion:









Dragon steps


----------



## Saigonese (Dec 31, 2004)

Hien Lam Pavilion

















Dynastic Urns









Royal incense burners









Empress Dowager's Residence

























Various intricate details and decorations:
roof tiles









Windows


----------



## Saigonese (Dec 31, 2004)

...
Bronze Ky Lan









Dragon Pole









Phoenix Pole


----------



## M.Poirot (May 8, 2005)

dcb11 said:


> You are confusing Palaces and Castles. Castles are built for defensive purposes, and thus are more isolated and secure. Compare European CASTLES to Japanese ones if you want, but comparing Himeiji to Versailles is problematic.
> 
> It would be better to compare places like Katsura to Versailles, and Himeiji could be compared to somwhere like Windsor or even Neuschwanstein. Forbidden City is almost like a combination of the two, very unique in being heavily fortified, but also very horizontal.


True. I did confuse them, I think. Maybe I should start another thread comparing castles?


----------



## JohnnyMass (Feb 6, 2005)

this thread should be entitled "which ones do you like the most" and not better, both are good in their own settings, I prefer western palces though.


----------



## MILIUX (Sep 13, 2002)

What an interesting subject. I love the photos!


----------



## nova (Jul 21, 2004)

Does anyone have pictures of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles? That's where the (in)famous Treaty of Versailles was signed, correct?


----------



## Cliff (Dec 5, 2002)

The World's largest Residential Place

Istana Nurul Iman


























A Singaporean Palace

The Istana

































pics by babystan


----------



## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

Don't forget this one!


----------



## MILIUX (Sep 13, 2002)

Anyone has photos of Saddam's palaces? How many did he have? 33?


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

Matixvolta said:


> Anyone has photos of Saddam's palaces? How many did he have? 33?


no pics from Saddam's palaces man hno: is very dangerous to go there and take pics from the palaces now :runaway:


----------



## dcb11 (May 25, 2003)

You can find pics of Saddam's palaces online. Most of the big ones were not completed, but you can get a taste of Saddam's ostentatious tastes by looking at the completed parts.

The palaces are mostly military bases now. Many soldiers live in the large, incomplete palaces. You can find a listing of these US bases at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/iraq.htm 

I wouldn't say Saddam's palaces represent the best of the Western palace. But, since you seem to be curious, I'll post a few pics. More are available at the site. 

Tikrit (the largest palace site)


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

cool, they are fantastic


----------



## Urban Girl (Sep 15, 2004)

what do you think about mixture of eastern and western; Turkish style
Dolmabahce Palace


----------



## Scryp (Dec 21, 2004)

Walt Disney copied this Spanish Castle (Alcázar of Segovia) for his film: "Snow White". Can you remember it?


----------



## Mekky II (Oct 29, 2003)

It's the castle of Bavaria that was copied. Also we talk about palaces.


----------



## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

wonderful Oduguy :applause:


----------



## DRAKKO (May 9, 2004)

Western Palaces


----------



## Culiat (Sep 11, 2004)

Cliff said:


> The World's largest Residential Place
> 
> Istana Nurul Iman


I love the Istana Nurul Iman especially when I found out that the Architect behind it is a Filipino.


----------



## Culiat (Sep 11, 2004)

Malacañan Palace, Manila, Philippines


----------



## AngerOfTheNorth (Aug 26, 2008)

This is a funny question I know, but does anyone have access to - or know where I could find - a plan (or plans), section and/or elevations of the Topkapi Palace? I know it's a hugely complex palace, but I'm trying to find a plan of the whole palace, plus a few details of the area of the throne room etc. I'm an architecture student and I'm really struggling to find anything, as I don't read or write any Turkish!

Any help would be hugely appreciated!


----------



## ashwa (Jul 5, 2010)

*Errr India kind of beats everyone when it comes to palace so yes Eastern Palaces*



Jodhpur2 said:


> Speaking of Umed Bhawant here are the pictures:
> cc:billyvian
> 
> 
> ...





Jodhpur2 said:


> Jaipur City Palace
> 
> cc:mfitch
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> cc:jokertrekker
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> cc:zepplink
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> cc:bahadur singh rajasthan
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> cc:alexleo13
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> cc:roving
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> cc: Arun Tater
> 
> 
> 
> ...





ashwa said:


> You can see that it's after restoration because of the controversial coloured glasses.
> 
> cc:harmohit singh



:banana:


----------



## ashwa (Jul 5, 2010)

Note: since india is a republic a lot of them have been converted into hotels by the former maharajas.


----------



## ReiAyanami (May 14, 2008)

Seriously now, what is the point of the thread, Western vs Eastern palaces is not very fair comparison. France alone, hell, Île-de-France alone can beat all of Asia and Africa combined by a huge margin, and that is not about arts, architecture or anything, its about Imperial Europe ruling the world for half a millennium. I mean just Versailles are basically a city of palaces. If you consider the works of art inside that European palaces too, then the comparison becomes ridiculous.... 

These are just a few from the suburban area surrounding Paris alone!
Versailles which cannot be captured in a single picture since they are basically a city 









Louvre:









Palais-Royal









Château d'Écouen









Fontainebleau









Château de Maisons









Saint-Germain-en-Laye









Château de Vincennes









Château de Compiègne









Palais du Luxembourg









Palais de la Légion d'Honneur









Conciergerie









Palais Bourbon









Élysée Palace









Seriously it is insane, the list for Paris alone goes on and on.....


----------



## Hasse78 (Dec 5, 2006)

How is it even possible to compare eastern to western? So different yet both so great in their own way. 

Just look at the following examples of how different their arcitecture stle can be. Impossible to shoose. :cheers:


Drottningholm palace in Stockholm, Sweden 











Osaka castle, Japan











Jal mahal palace in Jaipur, India.


----------



## Cyrus (Jan 28, 2005)

I think the number of palaces in Asia is more than the population of Europe!! Palaces were being built in Asia thousands years before that Europeans started to build small houses for themselves, even modern European palaces can be said to be just some small buildings in comparison to some ancient Asian palaces, like Persepolis which has a floor area of 125,000 sq. meters and was built by some millions workers from almost all known ancient countries in 180 years.


----------



## ReiAyanami (May 14, 2008)

BTW my favorite palace is Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. 1699-1712

A work of art


----------



## Dimethyltryptamine (Aug 22, 2009)

Western Palaces > Eastern Palaces.


----------



## Looking/Up (Feb 28, 2008)

Not sure if these ones have been already posted, so forgive me if they have.

Chateau Chambord, France









http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthematician/4868403885/


Blenheim Palace, UK









http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/313137596/

Casa Loma, Canada









http://www.flickr.com/photos/luismontanez/2942864217/


----------



## ReiAyanami (May 14, 2008)

Palace of Caserta, which along with the Versailles and the Schönbrunn are considered the 3 Super-Palaces of Europe


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Forbidden City or Winter Palace - the worlds largest palace - 980 buildings, 8707 rooms and chambers:



















Potala Palace - worlds tallest traditional building (and WTB for centuries) - 384-656 ft tall:









www.mountainsoftravelphotos.com


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

moved to next page...


----------



## Adrian12345Lugo (May 12, 2008)

the spliff fairy said:


> 360-656 ft tall:


when was this built?


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

^1645.

It has 13 stories, contains 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues. And a gold roof. Its 384-656 ft tall, and with the mount it's on it rises 1000ft above the valley floor.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

...


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

...


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

...and ones destroyed - most of Asia's great palaces have been destroyed

Edo-Jo, Tokyo, worlds largest castle ever built, destroyed WWII
















www.rekihaku.ac.jp, www.toppan.co.jp








www.rekihaku.ac.jp


It once occupied the entire Imperial Palace Park, and some
















http://affordablehousinginstitute.org


Old Summer Palace, and the worlds largest gardens ever created - made up of hundreds of pavilions on myriad island lakes.
It was looted and burned to the ground by Western troops in 1860.









http://upload.wikimedia.org








www.beijing-international-hotels.com










Daming palace, Xian, 7.5x the size of the Forbidden City, and largest palace ever built:









www.cultural-china.com








www.bpovia.com








www.chinadaily.com.cn


Other Chinese palaces were also as large - in turn 3, 4.5 and 5.5x the size of the Forbidden City
Epang Palace


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Mukden Palace, Shenyang, 300 rooms, the only Qing Dynasty royal palace outside Beijing.

This was in fact the much smaller palace of the Manchurians, who invaded and took over China,
and set up the Forbidden Palace as a much larger version of their own.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

New Summer Palace, Beijing, over 100 buildings on a manmade lake (and hill).
This is the third Summer Palace, the first two being destroyed in 1860 and 1900 by Western troops.









www.mapchinamap.com








http://mychinesetranslator.co.uk






















http://conference.itcs.tsinghua.edu.cn, www.lonelyplanetimages.com








http://thewondrous.com








www.dougdoebler.com








www.wikimedai.org








www.chinatravelpedia.com


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Thimpu's Royal Palace, Bhutan, and one of the few working royal palaces remaining in Asia









www.biketyrecity.com.au

















http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/hidef-pics-bhutan-crowns-a:


















http://cache.boston.com
































































traditional costume:
















www.windhorsetours.com









http://photos.travellerspoint.com








www.honoluluacademy.org

coronation:
































http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk















http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk


----------



## thekh (Mar 2, 2008)

Thanks, spliff fairy, those palaces are very beautiful and colorful.


----------



## thekh (Mar 2, 2008)

I'm going share you guy of Southeast Asia's palaces.

*Grand Palace in Thailand*


----------



## thekh (Mar 2, 2008)

*Royal Palace in Cambodia*


----------



## Cyrus (Jan 28, 2005)

> Forbidden City or Winter Palace - the worlds largest palace - 980 buildings, 8707 rooms and chambers


Forbidden City covers 74 hectares (178 acres) but Saadabad Palace Complex in Tehran has an area of 410 hectares (1,013 acres).


----------



## ThaiSiamese (Dec 26, 2005)

*Thailand Palaces*

*Grand Palace*
































































*Vimanmek Palace*


----------



## ThaiSiamese (Dec 26, 2005)

Thailand actually has many palaces but most of them had now turned to musuem, university, resort, and cultural reserved structure. Many of the old palaces (500+ yr. old) in Thailand had been destroyed during the war with Burma several hundreds years ago.

List of Thai palaces (still exist)

Thai royal family private residences

Grand Palace
Dusit Palace 
Chitralada Palace (New Palace)
Sukhothai Palace
Srapratum Palace
Nonthaburi Palace
Chakri Bongkot Palace


Former private residences of the Thai royal family

Vimanmek Palace (Vimanmek Mansion) - Now a museum
Suan Pakard Palace - Now a museum
Front Palace - Now Bangkok National Museum
Chankasem Palace - Now a part of the Ministry of Education
Rear Palace - Now a part of Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok
Phya Thai Palace - Now a part of Phramongkutklao Hospital
Phetchabun Palace - Now CentralWorld
Saranrom Palace - Now Saranrom Park
Varadis Palace - Now a museum
Old Palace - Now the headquarters of the Royal Thai Navy
Thapra Palace - Now a part of Silpakorn University
Bang Khun Phrom Palace - Now the Bank of Thailand
Tewawes Palace - Now the Bank of Thailand
Sunantalai Palace - Now Suan Dusit Rajabhat University
Ldawan Palace - Now the Crown Property Bureau
Burapha Phirom Palace - Now a market
Chakrabongse Palace - Now a private resort


----------



## thekh (Mar 2, 2008)

Talking about largest palace, i think the Mandalay Palace in Burma(Myanmar) covers over 413 hectares, but most parts of the Palace was burned down during many wars already. 



















Here some of pictures before the palace was burned down:














































British soldiers 

















The palace wall and moat









The palace was rebuilt in 1990s!


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

guys Forbidden City is not just open land and greenery, with a few buildings dotted around 
(by those counts the Summer Palace would be bigger, not to mention the Temple of Heaven
'complex' which is merely a single set of main buildings). The Forbidden City is mostly built 
up and covered, with 980 interconnected buildings, and 8700 rooms.
*Its counted by building size, not Palace grounds.*


----------



## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

Thimphu palace was rebuilt quite recently - somewhere in the 1900s. It was quite modest before then.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Ananta Throne Hall, Bangkok, a Western style palace commisioned by the former king (off limits to the public):










The interior is as lavish and gold encusted as the Thai pavilions:

























Michael Freeman, www.corbisimages.com

































main Royal Palace complex


----------



## Cyrus (Jan 28, 2005)

One of the gates of the real largest palace in the world:


----------



## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

Persepolis is the mother of all palaces. It's just incredible.


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

the forbidden city is just incredible... the courtyards are so large with the grand buildings surrounding it, amazing!

i wish some of those other asian palaces were never burnt down...


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Chengde Summer Palace / Imperial Resort










www.pandaholidaytours.com








www.cnstay.com


golden roofs









http://images2.travbuddy.com















http://china.metcn8.com, http://history.cultural-china.com

















http://yeschinatour.com


The Tibetan style palace was built in honour of the visiting Dalai Lama:
















http://news.cultural-china.com, http://users.skynet.be








www.drben.net















www.routard.com, www.china-tour.cn


the palace's temple complex









http://images.travelpod.com/users/jstellar








http://a10.idata.over-blog.com








www.wikimedia.org















http://stores.homestead.com, http://chinatibet.people.com.cn








www.diffchina.com/blog


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

its amazing in china, theres so many 'unknown' temples, palaces, monuments, etc... that most average people have never heard of, yet they are so impressive


----------



## Adrian12345Lugo (May 12, 2008)

why are eastern palaces all bunched up in the same group???


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Nagymágocs (near Szeged) -> Károlyi castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Dég (near Székesfehérvár) -> Festetics castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Nádasladány (near Székesfehérvár) -> Nádasdy castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Parádsasvár (near Eger) -> Károlyi castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Bercel (near Budapest) -> Kállay castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Tura (near Budapest) -> Schossberger castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Tóalmás (near Budapest) -> Andrássy castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Tiszadob (near Miskolc) -> Andrássy castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Hőgyész (near Szekszárd) -> Apponyi castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Szeleste (near Szombathely) -> Festetics castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Balatonszepezdfürdő (near Veszprém) -> Sir David castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Zalacsány (near Keszthely) -> Batthyány castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Fehérvárcsurgó (near Székesfehérvár) -> Károlyi castle


----------



## tony64 (Nov 2, 2008)

Europe -> Hungary -> Lillafüred (near Miskolc) -> Lillafüredi palace


----------



## What_The_Face (Oct 24, 2010)

Latoso said:


> Versailles by itself could beat all the others combined!


Couldn't have said it better myself. 
French architecture, Often imitated, never equaled 

About eastern palaces. I think they all have their own charm.


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

grand palace in bangkok looks amazing


----------



## Elvenking (Jul 22, 2008)

Wilanow Palace - Warsaw, Poland









President's palace - Warsaw, Poland









Saxon palace - Warsaw, Poland (no longer exists; will be rebuilt in future)









Łazienki Palace - Warsaw, Poland


----------



## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

Latoso said:


> Versailles by itself could beat all the others combined!


Versailles is truly built on a grand scale, but its size sometimes proved its undoing. 

As grand as the state rooms are, huge swaths of the palace remained very primitive. Historically, courtiers dreaded the compulsory attendance because of the bad accomodations for everyone except for the King and his family. And the lack of lavatories and privies was so bad that the courtiers were forced to piss and shit on the grand stairway landings. Something like this would have been unheard of in the great Eastern palaces, where cleanliness and fastidiousness was more enforced than in European palaces.

Even today, you can make direct comparisons between Versailles and the Louvre. Although Versailles is much much grander, the finishes in the Louvre are consistently of higher quality overall. In many places in Versailles, you only have scagolia, or faux marble, whereas some of the great galleries in the Louvre are finished with the finest and most precious marbles.

In many ways, Versailles was a grand stage -- in some places, pure smoke and mirrors. Still, it remained the palace to imitate in all of Europe.


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

i recently got more interested in some eastern palaces when I was browsing some Seoul threads and found that Seoul has many grand palaces that had lots of it destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Many of them look similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing and I find this fairly interesting.

Also the one in Hue, Vietnam also looks similar to the Forbidden City buildings except in slightly different, more Vietnamese style

Again, i find these similarities very interesting. I was wondering if anyone has visited these palaces such as Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul?



















some photos from google of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul


----------



## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

travelworld123 said:


> Also the one in Hue, Vietnam also looks similar to the Forbidden City buildings except in slightly different, more Vietnamese style


There was a wonderful article about this palace (with lots of nice pictures) published in Arts of Asia a year or two ago. The similarities with the Forbidden City were discussed in some detail.


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

Marathaman said:


> That is just massive. Huge sprawling repetitive buildings aren't necessarily very interesting. Just indicates the obscene amount of resources at their disposal.
> 
> That austere Japanese villa is much more endearing to look at.


The only thing interesting about the imperial villa is, actually how modern it is still looking. And while beauty is in the of the beholder, I think it is only the garden that makes is it any worth a trip maybe, but as for me, I have no idea why it should be even considered as an example of eastern architecture. 

Another villa, more interesting than beautiful:










And my favourite, a Renaissance-castle in central-Europa:


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Leander said:


> The eastern palaces of course... NOT.


Leander you do realise many of the world's largest and most celebrated palaces do exist in Asia - it is actually a valid question. Check out pages 4 and 5.


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

the spliff fairy said:


> Leander you do realise many of the world's largest and most celebrated palaces do exist in Asia - it is actually a valid question. Check out pages 4 and 5.


As it suits for the oldest one of the still existing ancient cultures, but the question is though, which is better, as it means for me, now which one I'd choose for a residence. We Europeans admire something called elegance, when an estate or motorcar just matches to its environment like humans to nature. Special, but not artificial. The Asian palaces though, each a masterpiece of arts and craft, not try to unveil the secret of beauty, but to triumph over nature and its boundaries, not knowing, where they actual are or end.


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

^ http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=69176661&postcount=141

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=64550875&postcount=83



Old Summer Palace, and the worlds largest gardens ever created - made up of hundreds of pavilions on myriad island lakes.
It was looted and burned to the ground by Western troops in 1860.









http://upload.wikimedia.org








www.beijing-international-hotels.com


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

The Old Summer Palace is bad example, because, as you know for sure, it included European-style (Rococo) palaces. At least one can say, that every culture has its masterpieces, and we better hope that we will get old enough to visit the best of them, in all parts of the world.


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

the spliff fairy said:


>


this massive forbidden city looking building complex was in the old summer palace??!!?!?!?!


----------



## Cyrus (Jan 28, 2005)

Not the West, nor the East but the Middle!

As I said before Saadabad Palace Complex has an area of 410 hectares (1,013 acres) which can be said to be the largest palace in the world.

Sabz Palace in Saadabad, "Sabz" means Green, Referring to the rare greenish hued stone used to build this splendid palace.


----------



## hknmtl (Nov 25, 2010)

somebody have to show dolmabahce.




















































































































































































and the death bed of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

Cyrus, do you have any sources or pictures to witness the size of Shavand Palace?


----------



## Cyrus (Jan 28, 2005)

Leander said:


> Cyrus, do you have any sources or pictures to witness the size of Shavand Palace?


According to this Persian wiki page, the base area of this building is 1372 sq.m.


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

Cyrus said:


> According to this Persian wiki page, the base area of this building is 1272 sq.m.


Alright... any sources for the Wikipedia-Article maybe?


----------



## Cyrus (Jan 28, 2005)

Leander said:


> Alright... any sources for the Wikipedia-Article maybe?


Ok, that wiki article seems to be a copy and paste from this website: http://radio.irib.ir/tehran/didaniview.php?ID=270 (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Website).


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Leander said:


> The Old Summer Palace is bad example, because, as you know for sure, it included European-style (Rococo) palaces. At least one can say, that every culture has its masterpieces, and we better hope that we will get old enough to visit the best of them, in all parts of the world.


Its one of the biggest losses in history - and yes, it included one Rococo pavilion, out of hundreds of Chinese ones, many built on manmade islands in a labyrinth of lakes. The gardens were the most extensive ever built, and the palace was actually the gilded, more ornate one in contrast to the 'austere' Forbidden City/ Winter Palace ('austere' here meaning millions of artworks and more paintings than the Louvre, so you can imagine what the Summer Palace must have been like). It took 3 days and nights to burn by 3500 British troops:
_
"We went out, and, after pillaging it, burned the whole place, destroying in a vandal-like manner most valuable property which [could] not be 
replaced for four millions. We got upward of £48 apiece prize money...I have done well. The [local] people are very civil, but I think the grandees 
hate us, as they must after what we did the Palace. You can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the places we burnt. It made 
one’s heart sore to burn them; in fact, these places were so large, and we were so pressed for time, that we could not plunder them carefully. 
Quantities of gold ornaments were burnt, considered as brass. It was wretchedly demoralising work for an army."_

—Charles George Gordon 1860


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

travelworld123 said:


> this massive forbidden city looking building complex was in the old summer palace??!!?!?!?!


No, after the Old Summer Palace was destroyed a new one was built - only to be wrecked a second time by Western troops in 1900. The current Summer Palace is thus the third, much smaller version (even though there are over 100 buildings), built at a separate location.

All that remains of the Old Summer Palace are the stonework archways of the rococo pavilion (the Chinese style ones were all wooden):










Although rebuilding has been discussed for decades the authorities decided to leave the ruins as a lesson to history. A few years ago Hangzhou, a city hundreds of miles away decided to plan a version as a theme park, much to the chagrin of the historians. A version of the rococo pavilion was also built in Shenzhen, to much controversy:










other pavilions from the original.

















maps before and present:

















overview. The royal families pretty much had palaces for each member, and for each function, and for each hour or whim - from contemplating the moon to formal eating, housing the royal harems to receiving state guests, storing court records to performing religious rites, dictating policy to sleeping. The Qing Court housed about 9000 people - actually down from the previous Ming Dynasty, which at it's height housed 10,000 royal concubines alone and 70,000 eunuch servants, mostly to look after the concubines:


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

wow, this is very interesting history

esp these pictures

















that is very sad that the old summer palaces are burnt down - beijing would have even more rich, beautiful buildings and would be even more impressive as a world city


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

Seems like the Brits saw this thread coming and destroyed any evidence of China's imperial pomp 

But it remains only a collection of palaces, I don't know if size should really matter in this debate. Otherwise...


----------



## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

^matter of size? naaah....

Palace of Parliaments is massive yes, but the Forbidden City is still the worlds largest palace, by far, with 8x as many rooms, far bigger footprint and volume too. 

In terms of one monolithic block, the Potala Palace is also larger.
(Palace of Parliaments: 270m x 240m x 86m tall, versus Potala: 400m x 350m x 117-200m tall).

And man, dont get me started on the ones lost to history, Xian lost palaces that were 3. 4.5 and 7x larger than the Forbidden City   

The problem with the turn of dynasties in China (read: regime change), everything before it tends to get annihilated in the process, last seen in the Cultural Revolution. It's incalculable the amount of art and history that's gone up in flames purely for being representational of a former era... case in point, when China became a republic in 1912, by 1930 Beijing had 'reduced' the number of its palaces and temples from 3000 to 300.

And that's not even mentioning the wars, such as the Taiping Rebellion of 1850-64, through which almost every major city was destroyed and was the worlds second bloodiest and most destructive war (after WWII). Again Its a complete wonder anything survived the 19th century, let alone the 20th. And now of course, the latest round in cultural destruction being the 21st century mass modernisation. :bash: :bash:


----------



## Tiaren (Jan 29, 2006)

Small but still a marvel:
*Castle Sigmaringen , Germany*:









http://www.flickr.com/photos/aundwweber/2937593867/sizes/l/in/photostream/


----------



## Leander (Aug 1, 2010)

the spliff fairy said:


> ^matter of size? naaah....
> 
> Palace of Parliaments is massive yes, but the Forbidden City is still the worlds largest palace, by far, with 8x as many rooms, far bigger footprint and volume too.
> 
> ...


True Word! Same here in Germany (Berlin City Castle and countless residences, destroyed by the communist government)

But I think it is actually not correct to count the Forbidden City as one Palace, for it includes 3000 of them. On the other hand, they also call it the Emperor's Palace...

Another Roman palace, an Emperor's Residence, too, the Diocletian Palace:










Today, only the ruins give a hint of its grace...


----------



## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

the spliff fairy said:


> ^matter of size? naaah....
> 
> Palace of Parliaments is massive yes, but the Forbidden City is still the worlds largest palace, by far, with 8x as many rooms, far bigger footprint and volume too.
> 
> ...


do you know anything about the Chengdu Imperial Palace that used to stand where the current Tianfu Sqaure/Mao statue is?

(Tianfu Square, the centre of Chengdu city)








image from google

I read that there use to be a imperial palace here much like how the Forbidden City is the centre of Beijing.

I can't seem to find much about it online except for the same few statements that don't mention much. There doesn't seem to be any paintings/photos either on this. I wonder what it looked like - a palace like the Forbidden City but with Sichuanese style... that would be incredible


----------

