Editing Palace (section)

== Ancient palaces ==
The [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] were among the first in human history to construct what can truly be considered palaces. The earliest known example in the architectural sense—a large, organized complex serving political, economic, religious, and administrative functions—is the [[Knossos|Palace of Knossos]] on the [[Crete|island of Crete]], built by the Minoan civilization around 2000 BC, nearly 4,000 years ago. <ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bury |first1=J. B. |title=A history of Greece to the death of Alexander the Great |last2=Meiggs |first2=Russell |date=1975 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-15492-2 |edition=4th |location=London}}</ref>[[File:Persepolis - Tachara 01.jpg|thumb|right|Palace of Darius I in [[Persepolis]], the imperial capital of [[Persian Empire|Persia]]]]
Early ancient palaces include the [[Assyria]]n palaces at [[Nimrud]] and [[Nineveh]] and the [[History of Iran|Persian]] palaces at [[Persepolis]] and [[Susa]].<ref name="MWCE">{{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia|publisher=Merriam-Webster|location=Springfield, MA|year=2000|isbn=0-87779-017-5}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=It's a dictionary, not a work of historical scholarship!|date=October 2023}} The [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] built complexes referred to in modern times as [[Minoan palaces]], though scholars now generally do not think they functioned as royal residences (or that there was royalty for them to house).<ref name=SchoepHandbook>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schoep|first=Ilse|year=2012|title=Crete|editor-last=Cline|editor-first=Eric|encyclopedia=The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean |pages=113–125 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199873609.013.0008|isbn=978-0199873609}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age|first=John C.|last=McEnroe | location=Austin | publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2010| page=viii}}</ref>

[[File:A lower view of the interior.jpg|thumb|[[Tiryns]] palace, [[Argolis]], [[Greece]]]]
The best examples of the Bronze Age Greece palace are seen in the excavations at [[Mycenae]], [[Tiryns]] and [[Pylos]].{{according to whom|date=September 2024}} The fact that these were administrative centers is shown by the records found there. They were ranged around a group of courtyards, each opening upon several rooms of different dimensions, such as storerooms and workshops, as well as reception halls and living quarters, each opening upon several rooms of different dimensions, such as storerooms, workshops, and reception halls. The heart of the palace was the [[megaron]]. This was the throne room, laid around a circular hearth surrounded by four columns, the throne generally found on the right-hand side upon entering the room. The staircases in the palace of [[Pylos]] indicate palaces had two stories. Located on the top floor were the private quarters of the royal family and some storerooms. These palaces have yielded a wealth of artifacts and fragmentary frescoes.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The [[Palace of Domitian]] in Rome is the overall name given to the complex of palaces that were the primary residence in Rome of the Roman emperors from the late 1st century to the 5th.  Some sculptures and decorative elements have been excavated. The [[Domus Aurea]] was a different palace, begun by [[Nero]], where excavations from the Renaissance onwards have discovered remarkably well-preserved paintings in levels now below ground.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Diocletian's Palace]] in [[Split, Croatia]] was ready for occupation in 305 AD and is much the most significant ancient survival, having been turned in the [[Middle Ages]] into a fortified town; it still houses many people and businesses.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Palaces in East Asia, such as the imperial palaces of Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, and large wooden structures in China's [[Forbidden City]], consist of many low pavilions surrounded by vast, walled gardens in contrast to the single building palaces of [[Medieval]] Western Europe.<ref name="MWCE" /> Palaces were also built by [[post-classical]] African kingdoms such as the [[Ashanti Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwAAAAYAAJ|page=291|title=The Monthly Review, Or, Literary Journal|year=1819}}</ref> Before its destruction during the [[Anglo-Ashanti wars|Third Anglo-Ashanti War]], the [[Ashanti Empire|Ashanti]] royal palace at [[Kumasi]], Ghana was described by English explorers [[Thomas Edward Bowdich]] and [[Winwood Reade]] as "an immense building of a variety of oblong courts and regular squares."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Thomas Edward |last=Bowdich |authorlink=Thomas Edward Bowdich |magazine=[[The Monthly Review]] |volume=XC |title=Mission from the Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee |date=September–December 1819 |publisher=J. Porter |location=London |page=291 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQgwAAAAYAAJ&q=entabletures&pg=RA2-PT2}}</ref>