1 | The Former Imperial Palace was called the Purple Forbidden City and now is the Palace Museum |
2 | It was the Imperial Palace in the Ming and Qing dynasties and is now the existing largest and best preserved ancient palace structure in China. |
3 | It was first built in 1406-1420 (4th to 18th year of reign of Emperor Yongle in Ming Dynasty) |
4 | It occupies over 720,000 square meters and has more than 9000 bays of halls and rooms. |
5 | The Palace is 760 meters wide (east to west) and 960 meters deep (north to south) |
6 | A 10 meter high wall surrounds the Palace with a 52 meter wide moat |
7 | The Palace forms a City within a City of Beijing |
8 | On the four corners of the Purple forbidden City there is a corner tower in the style of nine beams and 18 columns. |