thumb|Palace wall on the moat with Mandalay Hill in the distance
The Mandalay Palace (, ), located in Mandalay, Myanmar, is the last royal palace of the last Burmese monarchy. The palace was constructed between 1857 and 1859 as part of King Mindon's founding of the new royal capital city of Mandalay. The plan of Mandalay Palace largely follows the traditional Burmese palace design; it is inside a walled fort surrounded by a moat. The palace itself is at the centre of the citadel and faces east. All buildings of the palace are of one storey in height. The number of spires above a building indicated the importance of the area below.
Names
The Mandalay Palace's formal name in Burmese is Mya Nan San Kyaw ( ; "The Famed Royal Emerald Palace"). It is also known as (), or the "Great Golden Royal Palace".
History
thumb|upright|British colonial forces in Mandalay Palace, which they subsequently ransacked (1887)
thumb|Fort Dufferin under aerial attack during World War II
thumb|A traditional Burmese painting of Mandalay Palace grounds during the Konbaung dynasty
The Mandalay Palace was constructed as part of King Mindon's founding of Mandalay in February 1857. Large parts of the palace were reconstructed from the palace at Amarapura, which was relocated to Mandalay. The master plan called for a 144-square block grid patterned city, anchored by a 16 square block royal palace compound at the centre by Mandalay Hill. The 413-hectare royal palace compound was surrounded by four 2 km (6666 ft) long walls and a moat 64 m (210 ft) wide, 4.5 m (15 ft) deep. Along the wall were bastions with gold-tipped spires at intervals of 169 m (555 ft). The walls had three gates on each side, twelve in total, each presenting a zodiac sign. The British renamed the palace compound Fort Dufferin and used it to billet troops. During World War II, the palace citadel was turned into a supply depot by the Japanese and was burnt to the ground by Allied bombing. Only the royal mint and the watch tower survived.
1989–present: Reconstruction and conservation
Reconstruction of the palace began in 1989, initiated by the Department of Archaeology. Because government funds were insufficient, the Mandalay Committee for the palace Reconstruction was formed, with funds coming from the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which patronized this project.
thumb|Damage to Mandalay Palace after the March 2025 earthquake
On 28 March 2025, a powerful earthquake hit Myanmar's Sagaing Region, damaging parts of Mandalay Palace. The destruction raised concerns among historians about the site's integrity. This is especially relevant given its contested status since 2021.
Citadel
thumb|Plan of Mandalay Palace, 1911
The wall
thumb|A [[bastion at the palace wall]]
The palace citadel's four 2 km long walls form a perfect square, complete with a total of 48 bastions with gold tipped pyatthats or spires at regular intervals of 169 m (555 ft) and surrounded by a moat 64 m (210 ft) wide, 4.5 m (15 ft) deep. The walls, built with the common Burmese bricks set in mud mortar, are 3 m (10 ft) thick at the base and 1.47 m (4 ft 10 in) at the top; 6.86 m (22.5 ft) in height, excluding the merlons, and 8.23 m (27 ft) with the merlons. The embrasures are 0.84 m (2 ft 9 in) in width. To give access to the battlements in cases of alert and at the same time to strengthen the wall, an earthen rampart on a moderately inclined plane has been thrown up behind it. Its summit forms a platform 1.83 m (2 ft) wide, paved with bricks and running all along the walls behind the crenelles. The king and queen sometimes ascended the tower to witness the panorama of the country around, with its river, the bills and lakes. They also, from its summit, contemplated the spectacle of the illumination of the town at the Thadingyut festival at the end of Vassa ('Buddhist Lent'). It is said that Queen Supayalat witnessed, from there, the entry of the British troops who took Mandalay in November 1885. The Watch Tower also survived the allied bombing during World War II.
On the palace platform
The road from the Eastern Gate, which passes between the Clock Tower and the Relic Tower, leads to the Mye-Nandaw, and the Golden Spire over the Lion Throne Room, which marks the centre of the city. All the palace buildings stood on the platform. The latter consists of three distinct parts: on the east, the Great Audience Hall and the Lion Throne Room are erected on an earthen basement contained by a brick wall; the whole of the western portion, from the westernmost extremity up to and including the Hman-nan or Glass Palace, is likewise an earthen basement surrounded by a masonry wall; these two basements are connected, from the Hman-nan up to the Lion Throne Room, by a plank flooring of the same level supported by numerous teak posts. The whole of this platform, in its greatest length, measures 306 m (1,004 ft); in its greatest width, 175 m (574 ft). The height of the basement is 2 m (6 ft 9 in), the surrounding or retaining wall rising to a height of 3 m (10 ft 9 in) from the surrounding ground, and forming a parapet 1.2 m (4 ft) from the basement. Access to the top of the basement was obtained by thirty-one flights of steps, some large and some quite small, the principal of which are those at the eastern and western extremities.