List of palaces


The following is a list of palaces by country.

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Armenia

[Urartu] and [Satrapy of Armenia]

[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)]

[Bagratid Armenia]

[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]

Armenian Melikdoms">Melik">Armenian Melikdoms

Iranian Armenia">Iranian Armenia (1502–1828)">Iranian Armenia

[Armenia]

Australia

Austria

Bangladesh

Belarus

Belgium

[Brussels]

Elsewhere

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Brunei

Bulgaria

Varna">Varna, Bulgaria">Varna and [Black Sea] coast

  • Euxinograd – former royal summer residence located on the Black Sea coast, in the outskirts of Varna. The palace is currently a governmental and presidential retreat hosting cabinet meetings in the summer and offering access for tourists to several villas and hotels as well as the gardens.
  • Balchik Palace – a palace in the Bulgarian Black Sea town and resort of Balchik in Southern Dobruja. It was constructed between 1926 and 1937, during the Romanian control of the region, for the needs of Queen Marie of Romania. It's a popular tourist attraction in the region and most known for its botanical gardens.

Ruse">Ruse, Bulgaria">Ruse

[Sofia]

Other Historic Palaces

The following are historic strongholds throughout the years in the different capitals of Bulgaria. They often housed the royal and patriarchal palaces and are enclosed in defensive walls around their perimeter.

Other Royal Palaces

These are mostly hunting lodges and retreats for the Bulgarian Royal Family, located in the Rila Mountain range.

Burundi

Cambodia

Canada

Residences of provincial Lieutenant-Governors:

Chile

China

The English word "palace" is used to translated the Chinese word 宮. This character represents two rooms connected, under a roof. Originally the character applied to any residence or mansion, but starting with the Qin dynasty it was used only for the residence of the emperor and members of the imperial family. Chinese palaces are different from post-Renaissance European palaces in the sense that they are not made up of one building only, but are in fact huge spaces surrounded by a wall and containing large separated halls for ceremonies and official business, as well as smaller buildings, galleries, courtyards, gardens, and outbuildings, more like the Roman or Carolingian palatium.
The world's largest palace to have ever existed, the Weiyang Palace, was built in the Han dynasty. The world's largest palace currently still in existence, the Forbidden City, was constructed in the Ming dynasty.

List of Chinese imperial palaces, in chronological order

This is an incomplete list of Chinese palaces.
Apart from the main imperial palace, Chinese dynasties also had several other imperial palaces in the capital city where the empress, crown prince, or other members of the imperial family dwelled. There also existed palaces outside of the capital city called "away palaces" where the emperors resided when traveling. The habit also developed of building garden estates in the countryside surrounding the capital city, where the emperors retired at times to get away from the rigid etiquette of the imperial palace, or simply to escape from the summer heat inside their capital. This practice reached a zenith with the Qing dynasty, whose emperors built the fabulous Imperial Gardens, now known in China as the Gardens of Perfect Brightness, and better known in English as the Old Summer Palace. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and worked in the Imperial Gardens, 8 km/5 miles outside of the walls of Beijing, the Forbidden City inside Beijing being used only for formal ceremonies.
These gardens were made up of three gardens: the Garden of Perfect Brightness proper, the Garden of Eternal Spring, and the Elegant Spring Garden ; they covered a huge area of 3.5 km2, almost 5 times the size of the Forbidden City, and 8 times the size of the Vatican City. comprising hundreds of halls, pavilions, temples, galleries, gardens, lakes, etc. Several famous landscapes of southern China had been reproduced in the Imperial Gardens, hundreds of invaluable Chinese art masterpieces and antiquities were stored in the halls, making the Imperial Gardens one of the largest museum in the world. Some unique copies of literary work and compilations were also stored inside the Imperial Gardens. In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the British and French expeditionary forces looted the Old Summer Palace. Then on October 18, 1860, in order to "punish" the imperial court, which had refused to allow Western embassies inside Beijing, the British general Lord Elgin – with protestations from the French – purposely ordered to set fire to the huge complex which burned to the ground. It took 3500 British troops to set the entire place ablaze and took three whole days to burn. The burning of the Gardens of Perfect Brightness is still a very sensitive issue in China today.
Following this cultural catastrophe, the imperial court was forced to relocate to the old and austere Forbidden City where it stayed until 1924, when the Last Emperor was expelled by a republican army. Empress dowager Cixi built the Summer Palace near the Old Summer Palace, but on a much smaller scale than the Old Summer Palace. There are currently some projects in China to rebuild the Imperial Gardens, but this appears as a colossal undertaking, and no rebuilding has started yet.

Other palaces

Some other palaces include:

Colombia

Croatia

Czech Republic

Prague

Elsewhere

Denmark

Egypt

Pharaonic

Ptolemaic

Roman

  • 100 AD Roman palace at El Haiz area in the Bahariya Oasis, western desert.

Arab-Islamic

Estonia

Ethiopia

Finland

Georgia

Ghana

  • The Manhyia Palace – seat of the Asantehene of Ashanti, Kumasi
  • The Flagstaff House – seat of government until the late 1970s, Accra
  • The Christianborg – former seat of the government till December 2008, Accra
  • The Golden Jubilee Palace formerly known as the "Flagstaff House" – seat of Government since December 2008, Accra
  • The Abampredease Palace. Palace of Dormaahene

Greece

Haiti

Hungary

Indonesia

Presidential palaces

Iran

Palaces and pavilions

Castles and citadels

Iraq

Israel

Italy

Rome

[Florence]

[Venice]

Elsewhere

Japan

Jordan

Raghadan Palace, Amman. Royal Residence of the Hussein Family

Korea

Kuwait

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Maldives

Mexico

Monaco

Mongolia

Morocco

Myanmar

Nepal

The Netherlands

New Zealand

Apart from the large complex at Tūrangawaewae Marae located in the town of Ngāruawāhia, the previous Māori Monarch Te Atairangikaahu had a home at Waahi Marae in Huntly where she lived for most of her 40-year reign with her consort Whatumoana Paki. The Māori King or Queen are required to attend 33 Poukai annually conducted at Marae loyal to the Kingitangi movement. Many of these Marae maintain residences for the Māori King or Queen for them to use during such visits.

Nigeria

  • Olowo Palace in Owo Ondo State which contains more than one hundred courtyards, each with a unique traditional function.

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Qatar

  • Al Rayyan Palace
  • Al Wukair Palace
  • Markhiya Palace
  • Barzan Palace
  • Amiri Diwan Palace
  • Umm Salal Palace
  • Al Wajbah Palace
  • Al Gharrafa Palace
  • Al Jassasiya Palace
  • Al Mirgab Palace
  • Al Waab Palace

Romania

[Bucharest]

Russia

[Gatchina]

[Kaliningrad]

[Moscow]

Oranienbaum">Oranienbaum, Russia">Oranienbaum

Pavlovsk">Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg">Pavlovsk

[Pella]

Peterhof">Petergof">Peterhof

Pushkin">Pushkin (town)">Pushkin

Ramon">Ramon, Russia">Ramon

[Saint Petersburg]

[Strelna]

[Taganrog]

[Tver]

Rwanda

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Singapore

Slovakia

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Sweden

[Skåne]

The province of Skåne in southernmost Sweden is well known for its many castles.

Syria

Taiwan

Thailand

Tonga

  • Royal Palace, Tonga-Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Tonga is located in the northwest of the capital, Nukuʻalofa, close to the Pacific Ocean.

Tunisia

Türkiye

In Turkish, a palace is a Saray.

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United States

Colorado

District of Columbia

Florida

Guam

  • Plaza de España – the site of the palace of the Spanish Governors of Guam. The palace itself was largely destroyed during the liberation of Guam however many outlying structures still stand and there are plans to possibly reconstruct the palace in the future.

Hawaii

New Jersey

New Mexico

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

  • Pennsbury Manor – Home of William Penn as Proprietor of Pennsylvania from 1683 to 1701.

Puerto Rico

Texas

Virginia

Uzbekistan

Vatican City

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

List of non-residential palaces

Some large impressive buildings which were not meant to be residences, but are nonetheless called palaces, include:
Note, too, the French use of the word palais in such constructions as palais des congrès and palais de justice.