Inside the Royal Palace

You may wonder what it is like inside the Cambodian Royal Palace. Of course, the Palace is home to the Royal Family but it is not just only home, there are also guest rooms, restaurants, religious temples and offices. For the purpose of this page, we will show you only important buildings that are frequently visited by and open to tourists.

The original buildings within the palace complex were built by luxury woods. This is a picture of the Throne of Hall taken in 1826 before the French colony. Nowadays, wooden buildings are replaced by concret structures with pure Cambodian architectural designs. 

This is the concret Throne of Hall that you will see when you enter the palace complex. The building faces the east so it is best for photograph in the mornings. The Throne of Hall is home to golden statutes of the Cambodian former kings, the golden throne and the crown. All the decoration inside this building is made mostly from gold as you will see in the next picture.

The Throne of Hall is used for coronation, diplomatic, official meetings and religious purposes. It is probably the most luxurious building within the palace complex. The picture here features the meeting between His Majesty and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. 

The Moonlight Pavilion - This is the building that is on the complex gate so it is visible as you walk or drive along the complex. The building serves as a venue for the Royal Dancers, for the king to address the crowds and to hold state and Royal banquets. 

The Napoleon Pavilion - It's the only western-style building within the palace complex. It was constructed entirely of iron for the Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III in 1869 for the use in the inauguration of the Suez Canal. Then in 1876, the building was shipped to the palace complex as a gift. Now it is used to store royal memorabilia and photographs.

The Silver Pagoda - a buddhist temple used for religious purposes. Many major buddhist ceremonies are held here and it is the second most luxurious building within the palace complex. It is called Silver Pagoda because the floor was made of 5,329 silver tiles, each weighted 1.125kg. It is also a place for cultural and religious treasures that houses more than 1,650 precious objects. The most two precious Buddha statues are the Emerald Buddha made of emerald or baccarat crystal and the Buddha Maitreya made of 90kg of gold and encrusted with 2,086 diamonds plus a 25-caret diamond in the crown and a 20-caret diamond in the chess. 

There are many Stupas around the Silver Pagoda. Stupas are used to store ashes of the former kings and royal families who passed away. There are different styles of Stupas but the one in the picture is the most common.

Finally, the Royal Palace at sunset is beautiful. You can have a walk outside the palace complex and have all amazing views surrounding.

If you have a chance to visit Phnom Penh, the Royal Palace is the first place you should be heading to. You should seek information in advance about the ticket and the schedule because the Palace is open at certain time while some days it is closed. Phnom Penh Day hopes you enjoy visiting this page.