Mandalay Palace
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Mandalay Palace (Burmese: မ္ရနန္းစံက္ယော္; IPA: [mja̰ nán sàn tʃɔ̀]) is a palace located in Mandalay, Myanmar. The palace is also known as ရ္ဝ္ဟေနန္းတော္က္ရီး (IPA: [ʃwè nán dɔ̀ dʒí]), or the "Great Golden Royal Palace". The palace is located within a walled fort that is 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) on each side. Mandalay Palace was built to house King Mindon's family, and to shift the capital from Amarapura. The original palace was built of teakwood, although the reconstruction is made of more modern materials. The palace is surrounded by an 8 m high brick walled fort, and a moat 70 m in width. The palace serves as Mandalay's city centre.
The fort was constructed in 1857, shortly before the arrival of the British, as the palace compound for King Mindon Min. Each side of the square fortress measures 2 kilometres in length, 8 metres in height and more than 2 metres in average thickness.
Mandalay Palace was entirely burnt during World War II, after having been used as an ammunition storehouse by the British. The government recently renovated the palace, although much of the materials used, such as corrugated sheet metal for roofing, are rudimentary. Today, Mandalay Palace attracts many tourists and other visitors.
Mandalay Palace has long been associated with the city of Mandalay. The moat, which surrounds the Palace contains many goldfish.
[edit] External links
- Wanderings in Burma by George W Bird, 1897 F J Bright & Son, London
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