It’s hardly possible to imagine a trip to Russia without visiting the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg or a trip to England without going to the Buckingham Palace in London. In turn, in France, the main residence of kings was the Palace of Versailles. In Thailand, the chief attractions are sacred temples. Although, this country also has a royal palace for holding significant events of the kingdom with the participation of King Rama X and members of the royal family. Every year, its halls become eyewitnesses of wedding ceremonies and birthday celebrations, of important state appointments and various social events. But the point is that most of the palace is open for tourists, being one of the most fascinating excursions in the capital, Bangkok.

For the first time, the Grand Palace opened its doors at the end of the 18th century during the reign of Rama I. His solemn coronation took place here. Since then, all the kings had lived within its walls before Rama IX moved the residence to the Chitralada Palace. Initially, the palace with an area of 220 sq. m. represented several wooden buildings surrounded by a tall defensive wall 2 kilometers long. The layout looked like the ancient palace of Ayutthaya. It was a rectangular building with a marvelous view of the country’s largest Chao Phraya River. Every year, the number of buildings increased, stone constructions gradually replaced wooden ones, and a fabulous garden was laid out on the palace grounds. Today, the Grand Palace consists of palaces and a throne room, temples and stupas, a museum and exhibition halls. The legendary Temple of the Emerald Buddha with a 66 centimeters high Buddha statue made of pure emerald is the centerpiece. The world-famous statue was found in the early 15th century in the Phra Kayu Temple in the small city of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. But the history of its creation is unknown.