From the chinese structure that housed royal dynasties for almost 500 years to the 3.5-million-square-foot
fortress with 8 stories below ground, today we look at the Biggest Palaces on Earth.
Number 14.
Winter Palace From 1732 to 1917, this 60-thousand-square-meter
palace served as the royal residence for all of Russia's Emperors.
Located between the Palace Embankment and Palace Square of Saint Petersburg, the Winter
Palace acted as the central headquarters from which Russian rulers could oversee the 8.6
million square miles and 125 million citizens of the Russian Empire.
This great structure is notable for its green and white exterior, Elizabethan Baroque style,
and hosting approximately 1,500 rooms throughout the 98-foot-tall, 705-foot-wide building.
Number 13.
Royal Palace of Stockholm Built on the ashes of Tre Kronor Castle, which
burnt down in a fire in 1697, the Royal Palace of Stockholm wasn't completed until 1728 due
to military conflicts in the region.
This Swedish structure was first inhabited in 1754 by King Adolf Frederick and Queen
Louisa Ulrika, marking the major difference between it and its predecessor.
While both are royal structures, the purpose of a castle is to be battle ready, while a
palace is built with the express purpose of housing royalty.
Differing from most other palaces, the Stockholm Palace hasn't experienced any major conversions
and officials claim it to be the "world's largest palace still used for its original
purpose" at a square footage of 658,000.
Number 12.
Palace of Versailles A historical monument and UNESCO World Heritage
site, the Palace of Versailles is renown for its beauty, size, and cultural importance.
It began as the royal quarters of French royalty with Louis XIV in 1682 and was used as such
until the reign of Louis XVI and the French Revolution in 1789.
The Palace of Versailles measures 679,000 square feet in area, but the whole of the
palace grounds holds the title of largest royal domain in the world at 2,014 acres!
Within its walls lie a number of famous attractions such as the Royal Opera and the ceremonial
Hall of Mirrors.
Over 7 million visitors are drawn to the Palace of Versailles each year, making it the second
most popular attraction in France after the Louvre.
Number 11.
Topkapi Palace Six years after the fall of Constantinople,
Mehmed the Conqueror ordered the construction of the Topkapi Palace to serve he and other
Ottoman sultans as a base of administrative work and a chief residence.
Originally called the New Palace to differentiate it from the Old Palace within Beyazit Square,
this structure located in Istanbul, Turkey, would undergo a series of upgrades over the
centuries, adding multiple courtyards and buildings to the complex as well.
Though it stopped acting as a royal residence following the 17th century, the sultans still
valued Topkapi Palace as an imperial library, mint, and treasury.
The finished product is the 753,000-square-foot citadel that now serves as a large museum
and hosts a massive collection of Ottoman artifacts
Number 10.
Buckingham Palace With 775 rooms, the largest private garden
in London covering 40 acres of surrounding space, and and a square footage of 828,000,
Buckingham Palace is both one of the most impressive and one of the most famous palaces
in the world.
This royal residence was first built in 1703 as a townhouse for the Duke of Buckingham,
but in 1761 King George III purchased the home for his wife, Queen Charlotte, and it
henceforth was known as The Queen's House.
But as the building expanded in the early 19th century, it grew to be less of a townhouse
and more of a palace with the addition of three wings and a central courtyard.
When Queen Victoria rose to power in 1837, Buckingham Palace became the official home
to the British monarchy and continues to serve as a royal headquarters for the United Kingdom
in modern times.
Number 9.
Palace of Venaria The Palace of Venaria was commissioned in
1675 by Duke Charles Emmanuel II to grant him a base of operations during his hunting
expeditions north of Turin, Italy.
Its name comes from the Latin phrase "Venatio Regia" which means Royal Hunt, but this palace
changed purposes near the turn of the 18th century as the House of Savoy expanded the
palace to become a regal residence for their royal dynasty.
By the end of the 18th century, it had withstood a beating and fell into disuse before becoming
a stronghold for the Italian military until 1978 when it was purchased by the Ministry
of Culture.
The 861-thousand-square-foot Palace of Venaria began restoration efforts in 1999 and became
the largest restoration project in European history before opening to the public in 2007.
Number 8.
Abdeen Palace Now a museum in Downtown Cairo, this historic
stronghold was named after Albanian commander and Egyptian politician Abidin Bey.
Abdeen Palace began construction in 1863 atop Bey's mansion after his passing and was designed
by French architect Léon Rousseau.
Despite being relatively new in relation to other large palaces, this grand structure
is thought to be among the most lavish and prestigious palaces due to the vast amount
of gilded clocks, decorations, and paintings throughout its halls.
In total, the Abdeen Palace fills 1.1 million square feet of space, and including the gardens
added by Sultan Fuad I in 1921, the entirety of the complex measures over 2 million square
feet.
Number 7.
Quirinal Palace Named for the ancient Roman deity Quirinus,
who was at one time worshipped upon the hill in which it now sits, is the Palazzo del Quirinale,
or Quirinal Palace as it translates to English.
It is one of the three official residences of the President of Italy and throughout its
history it has been the home of four separate Kings of Italy, twelve presidents, and an
astounding thirty popes!
During the campaign of Napoleon's Empire, the Quirinal Palace was hand-selected to be
his royal abode, but this never came to pass as he met defeat in 1814.
This palace occupies an area of 1.19 million square feet, but also features a massive garden
measuring over 430 thousand square feet!
Number 6.
Royal Palace of Madrid Unlike many of the palaces on this list, the
Royal Palace of Madrid remains the official residence to date of the Spanish royal family.
However, despite being titled as such, the current King of Spain, Felipe VI, and his
family have opted to live in the nearby Palace of Zarzuela, which is much more modest than
this 1.45-million-square-foot structure.
It was first built between the years of 860 and 880 and stood as a defensive fortress
for centuries before it was used as a royal residence by John II, King of Castile and
León in the early 15th century.
A fire in 1734, though, would burn it to the ground and give cause for another completely
new construction that would take nearly two decades to complete.
Number 5.
Forbidden City Though the entirety of the Forbidden City's
palace complex equates to over 7.75 million square feet, making it the largest palace
complex in the world, the actual main structure fills an area of just 1.61 million square
feet.
Serving as China's imperial palace from 1420 to 1912, this great building was the home
of many emperors, their families, and their royal courts from the reign of the Ming dynasty
until the end of the Qing dynasty.
For just under 500 years the Forbidden City was the political center of the Chinese government,
but has been under the control of the Palace Museum since 1925 with much of the artifacts
from prior residing dynasties making up a majority of their exhibits.
Over sixteen million people now visit this historically sacred World Heritage Site annually,
and it remains one of the most culturally significant structures in all of China.
Number 4.
Apostolic Palace The pope oversees the Catholic Church from
this official residence within Vatican City, a 1.74-million-square-foot structure officially
known as the Apostolic Palace.
In addition to housing the head of the Catholic Church, the Papal Palace or Palace of the
Vatican, as it's sometimes known, plays many roles.
It contains the private, state, and religious Papal Apartments, the offices of the Catholic
Church and the Holy See, various chapens, Vatican Museums of art and sculptures, and
the famous Vatican Library.
The most beloved room in all of the Apostolic Palace, however, is arguably the Sistine Chapel
thanks to the vivid, frescoed decor provided by heralded Renaissance artists like Michelangelo
and Sandro Botticelli.
Number 3.
Louvre Palace This 2.15-million-square-foot complex was
the royal home to the kings of France for 3 centuries before it became the location
of the famed art museum it is today.
The Louvre Palace was initially constructed to be a military fortress during the medieval
period under the directions of King Philip II in 1190 before he headed off to the Third
Crusade.
It was finished being built by 1202, but continued to undergo renovations throughout the Middle
Ages.
King Louis IX added "royal treasury" to the palace's purpose in the mid-13th century,
and a courtroom and prison were added to the complex under the command of the Valois dynasty.
But Charles V made it an official royal palace during the 14th century, before Francis I
ordered a complete overhaul of the Louvre's appearance.
Between his and Henry II's reign, much of the palace was demolished and rebuilt to transform
it into a Renaissance Style palace.
Many more additions have been built into and surrounding the Louvre Palace since then,
and the resulting palace grounds occupy over 4.3 million square feet of space.
Number 2.
Hofburg Palace The Hofburg Palace of Vienna, Austria was
first constructed in the 13th century and continued to grow over the years that followed,
expanding to become the 2.5 million square-foot fortress it is today.
This building has acted as the documented seat of government since its inception, but
has added a number of features with each additional upgrade.
Some of the most notable installations to the Hofburg Palace include an imperial chapel,
a treasury, an imperial library, the Austrian National Theater known as the Burgtheater,
and the Spanish Riding School.
Number 1.
Palace of the Parliament This monstrous building is home to the Senate
and Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of Romania and in addition to being the biggest
of all palaces, it is the largest civilian-friendly administrative building in the world.
The Palace of the Parliament fills an area of over 3.5 million square feet, measuring
12 stories tall and hiding another 8 floors below ground.
While a major hub for government activity, this palace also contains 3 museums, including
the Museum of the Palace, the Museum of Totalitarianism and Socialist Realism, and the National Museum
of Contemporary Art.