CAMBODIA: Phnom Penh's Royal Palace

Phnom Penh became Cambodia’s capital in 1866.

It is situated where the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers meet, making it a historic trading hub for both the Khmer and the French colonialists.

The Royal Palace was started in 1866. 

Some buildings were dismantled and rebuilt as late as the 1960s. It is a complex of buildings including the official home to the Cambodian royal family.

The complex is divided by walls into four main compounds, the Silver Pagoda, the Khemarin Palace and the central compound contains the Throne Hall, and the Inner Court.

The complex’s buildings have graceful Khmer roofs with ornate gilding.

The focal building is the Throne Hall which is used for high official celebrations, coronations and audiences with foreign dignitaries and government officials.

It has a 59-meter tower that is topped with the white, four-faced head of Brahma.

The tower roof is decoratively tiered with golden coloured tiles.

The Napoleon Pavilion looks totally different than the other buildings. It is a prefabricated cast iron villa manufactured for the King in 1875. It is known as the Iron House. There is a story that it was built for Napoleon's wife, the Empress Eugenie, to attend the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal in 1869.

 The King's living area, which takes up half of the total palace ground area is closed to the public.

Unfortunately, our invitation was caught up in international mailing protocol so we did not get our invitation in time and did not get a chance to check it out. Instead, this is the King's viewing platform. 

The Silver pagoda is also known as the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha. The Pagoda’s steps are crafted from Italian marble, and within the throne room the floor has more than 500 solid silver blocks. In total they weigh nearly six tons.

There is a magnificent 17th century emerald Buddha statue made of Baccarat crystal and solid gold. It weighs 90 kilograms and is adorned with 9,584 diamonds. Sorry, but for security reasons no photos. Instead,  I'll show you photos of some of the Royal outfits on display. 

On the wall, surrounding the Pagoda compound, (the oldest part of the palace) are hundreds of meters of frescos depicting an episode of the Indian epic Ramayana. These are the biggest mural frescos in South East Asia.

Maybe next time we go our invitation to the private Royal quarters will arrive in time.