THE GRAND PALACE the palace has area 2118,400 sq. metres and is surrounded
by walls built in 1783. the length of the four walls totalls 1900 metter.
Within these walls are situated government offices the Chapel Royal of
the Emerald Buddha besides the royal residences.
When Siam restored law
and order after the fall of Ayudhya the monarch lived in Dhonburi on the
other side of the river.
Rama I,immediately on ascending the throne,moved
the centre of administration to this side of the Caopraya; and, after erecting
public monuments such as fortifications and monasteries,built a palace
to serve not only as his residence but also his offices-the various ministries,only
one of which remains in the palace walls.
The palace came to be known as
the Grand Palace,in which the earliest edifices contemporary with the foundation
of Bangkok were the two groups of resideces named Dusit-Mahaprasad and
the Mahamontien.
