King Narai's Palace

The palace was built in 1655 and 1677. It was built by King Narai of the Ayutthaya era. It took 22 years before and after, also known as King Narai's Palace. It is also the third largest national museum in Thailand. King Narai commanded a team of engineers from France, Italy and Portugal to build it. It combined Thai, Khmer, and European architectural styles. The main function of the Royal Palace at that time was to receive Western envoys. The main building in the palace is the PhimanMongkut Pavilion built by Rama IV in 1856. The adjacent white pure Thai building is the Chantara Phisan Pavilion, which was built in 1655 as the palace of King Narai. In those days, when King Nalai received foreign envoys, it was usually at DusitSawanThanyaMahaPrasatHall in the palace. There is also a Suttha Sawan Pavilion to the south of these palaces, where King Narai died and the palace was abandoned after his death. Later in 1856 King King Mongkut renovated some palaces. It was turned into a museum in 1924. The museum consists of four buildings, displaying agricultural supplies, Indian epic shadow play, various Buddha statues, stone artifacts, and cultural relics and antiques from more than 2,700 years ago, including Lopburi-style Buddha statues, Khmer and Ayutthaya Dynasty artworks.