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.
