 
This palace has an area of 218,400 sq. metres and is surrounded by walls built in 1783. The length of the four walls totals 1,900 metres. Within these walls are situated government offices and the Chapel Royal of the Emerald Buddha besides the royal residences. When Siam restored law and order after the fal of Ayudhya the monarch lived in Dhonburi on the order side of the river. Rama I, immediately on ascending the throne , moved thee 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. This palace came to be known as the Grand Palace , in which the earliest edifices contemporary with the foundation of Bangkok were the two groupss of residences named the Dusit-Mahaprasad and the Mahamontien.
PLAN OF THE GRAND PALACE 
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