The Forbidden City in Beijing

 

The Forbidden City in Beijing

The Forbidden City of China is located right in the heart of Beijing and was home to 24 emperors of the Qing and Ming Dynasties. The grand palace’s construction started during the Yongle Emperor’s 4th year of ruling the Ming Dynasty in 1406, ending 14 years later in 1420.
When the city was built, the emperor was believed to be the son of heaven, having supreme power. Therefore, their home on Earth was meant to be a replica, built to resemble the Purple Palace in heaven. A place as divine as this was forbidden to ordinary people, which is where the Forbidden City got its name. Its splendid architecture is a representation of the culmination and essence of the traditional Chinese style. The Palace Museum has become home to various Chinese historical and cultural relics and was recognized as one of the top 5 most important palaces worldwide. During 1961, the museum was named an important historical monument under the Chinese central government’s special preservation. Then in 1987, the museum declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO foundation. The Forbidden City is the country’s best preserved imperial palace and the world’s biggest ancient palatial structure. It covers about 72 hectares of area, having a total of 150,000 square meters of floor space. There are 90 courtyards and palaces, 8,704 rooms, and 980 buildings. The city is surrounded by a moat that is 6 meters deep, and a wall that is 10 meters high with gates on every side.