Palaces and country houses

Palaces are impressive residences of important and/or affluent persons.

Palaces were built since the beginning of the construction: large and showy residences always have served to express the power of their owners.

Characteristic features of palaces

• Large size. In order to excel, the palace should be larger than any other structure in the vicinity, at least larger than surrounding residential buildings.
• Ornate interior and exterior. Expensive materials, ornamentation, and works of art show the wealth and exquisite taste of the owner.
• Planning without significant fortifications. Palaces, in general, were built during periods of peace. The mere nature of a large building with numerous large windows has been a show of force: no one should dare to attack the powerful owner of the palace. Unfortunately, sooner or later tumultuous times came, influential people have influential enemies, and palaces often have been targets of attacks. Almost all the ancient palaces around the world have been lost.
• Open space around the building. Palace is secluded, it is away from the residences of common people. The area around it is shaped to excel and supplement the structure’s beauty.

The most impressive palaces are found throughout Western and Central Europe and at St. Petersburg in Russia, as well as in parts of Asia, especially in Japan, Korea, China, India, and Nepal.

Values

The main values of palaces are:

• The exterior of the palace building. Throughout the centuries the architecture of palaces has evolved but one does not change: owners of the palace have the freedom to select the design to their liking. And quite a few palace owners decide to build an extraordinary structure unlike anything else.

  

• The interior. The awe of the visitor does not end at the entrance door – the interiors of palaces often are a lot more impressive than the external view. Nevertheless, in many palaces, just a few main rooms have ornate interiors while most of the other rooms are fairly simple. Most of the palace owners could not afford to make ALL of the palace luxurious and, not all want to do this.
• Art collections and libraries. A large part of the world’s art values is located in palaces. Owners of palaces ordered paintings from the best painters in the world, and they collected rare books, and natural, and archaeological collections. Due to this many palaces are museums today.
• Parks and park architecture. Many of the world’s most beautiful parks are palace parks. Each true palace has its garden, often with beautiful causeways, bridges, and intricate systems of water streams and lakes. Many palaces have additional buildings in the parks and around the main building. The largest palaces have even smaller palaces elsewhere on the palace grounds.

Which buildings are palaces and which – are not?

It is not easy to tell the number of palaces around the world: there are no clear borders of this term. For example, in the United Kingdom, only royal residences and residences of bishops are called “palaces”, but there are numerous “country houses” and “halls” around the country that are no less impressive and are included in the category of palaces by Wondermondo.

Palaces and castles

Castles are fortified residences and belong to a different category. Nevertheless, there is no strict division between castles and palaces.

Many palaces are rebuilt castles: times of trouble pass, and the family persists and doesn’t want to live in a fortress anymore. Thus the castle is rebuilt, extended, and the fortification walls are removed.

Sometimes palaces are intentionally built similar to castles: these are not real fortifications but their owners wanted them to be similar to ones. One of the most prominent examples of such buildings is Pena Palace in Portugal.

Palaces as administrative buildings and cultural venues

Many palaces have served as administrative buildings: these large buildings often are not just residences of important authorities but have served as places for gatherings and decision-making.

This has turned into a tradition and today many purely administrative buildings and cultural venues are called “palaces”. Wondermondo does not include these structures in the category of “palaces”.

Palaces and villas

Villas are upper-class residences that are not as large and impressive as palaces. Villas are more secluded than palaces: if a palace is meant for show-off, a villa is a place for a family retreat from the public.

Nevertheless, the division between the palace and the villa is vague. For example, Villa Doria Pamphilj (Rome, Italy) is rather a palace – a large, ornate structure with extensive gardens around it.

Manor houses

Manor houses are residences of large landholders. The largest manor houses, such as Hatfield House, belong to the best palaces, but the smallest manor houses are similar to the houses of common citizens. Thus: not all manor houses are included in the category of palaces.

British townhouses, French palais, and Italian palazzos

Magnificent private residences in cities are comparable to palaces. Nevertheless, in the cities, there are fewer possibilities to develop a free-standing structure with a park and supplementary buildings around it. Thus, in most cases, these “city palaces” are not included in the category of true palaces.

Some records of palaces

• The oldest known palace in the world could the Sumerian Palace of Kish (Babil Governorate in Iraq). Its age is not known but it is possible that the palace existed already around 3500 BC.

  

• The largest palace in the world is Hofburg Palace in the center of Vienna, Austria. This giant structure has a floor area of 240 000 m² and 2 600 rooms. The palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania is larger but this is not a true palace.
• The largest palace grounds are located in Forbidden City, Beijing (China). This palace complex is 72,8 ha large and contains 980 buildings with 9 999 rooms. Among these 980 buildings, 90 buildings can be considered to be palaces – 90 palaces together!
• The largest palace complex ever built was Weiyang Palace in Xi’an (Shaanxi, China). It has an area of 480 ha and was constructed around 200 BC. This palace complex was eliminated by fire.
• The largest palace by the volume of its rooms could be the Royal Palace of Caserta (Campania, Italy). Its volume exceeds 2 million cubic meters, the palace has some 1 200 rooms and a floor area of 61 000 m².
• The largest palace by the number of rooms could be the Royal Palace of Madrid. It has 3 418 rooms and a floor area of 135 000 m². This giant palace is not just a large structure, but it has ornate interiors with immense values of art.