October 8, 2024 18:04 PM

Feeling Royal? Here's A Look Inside The Five Most-Visited Castles In The World

Yearly, more than 1.5 million travelers are inspired to reach different castles and experience what it feels inside.

Cordula Mauss, PR officer for the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, said, "People have always been interested in celebrities and powerful people and their homes. Immediately after the death of Ludwig II in 1886, the first tourists came and wanted to see what their king had built as his private residence."

Though castles and palaces commonly attract such curiosity to the people, not all have the Neuschwanstein's European fairy-tale looks. Some of the world's most visited castles across Asia feature red exteriors, gates and pagodas.

CNN reveals the most recent data supplied by the attractions themselves or from government agencies, industry reports, and reputable media outlets have gathered the top 5 most-visited castles in the world.

1.The Forbidden City (Palace Museum), Beijing

Every day, tens of thousands of people visit the Forbidden City to take a look at the 178-acre walled compound that once shielded the Imperial Palace, housing Chinese emperors and their entourages, from the public's eye.

2.The Louvre, Paris

Displaying masterpieces like La Gioconda (the Mona Lisa) and the Winged Victory of Samonthrace, the Louvre is the largest and most famous museum in the world which started as a palace. It housed generations of French kings and emperors from the start of 12th century.

3.Grand Palace, Bangkok

This place still holds royal offices, and state visits and royal ceremonies such as Royal Birthday Anniversary of the current King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thai kings also officially resided here from 1782 to 1925. Travel and Leisure said that the Buddha located in Grand Palace was carved from a single block of jade, and his garments, made of pure gold, are changed in a royal ceremony three times a year to reflect the Thai seasons.

4. Palace of Versailles, France

No other palace in the world can match the grandeur of Versailles's Hall of Mirrors, dripping with chandeliers, and Marie Antoinette's bedroom, decorated with hand-stitched flowers.

5. Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

About 400 years, Topkapi Palace was the royal residence the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s. Moreover, the sultan inhabited with his wives, concubines, mother, and children in the harem, under the fierce protection of eunuchs.

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