The
Grand Palace
 This palace has an area of 218,400
sq. metres and is surrounded by walls built in 1783. The length
of the four walls totals 1900 metres. Within these walls are
situated government offices and the Chapel Royal of the Emerald
Buddha besides the royal residences. When Siam restored law and
order side of Ayudhya the monarch lived in Dhonburi on other
side of the river. Rama I, immediately on ascending the throne,
moved the centre of administration to side of the Caopraya; and,
after erecting public monuments such as fortifications and monasteries,
built a palace to serve not only as his residence but also his
office-the various ministries, only one of which remains in the
palace walls. This palace came to be known as the Grand Palace,
in which the earliest edifices contemporary with the foundation
of Bangkok were the two groups of residences named the Dusit-Mahaprasad
and the Mahamontien. |
