Palace
A
palace is (or was) the home of a
head of state or other high-ranking
public figure. Many palaces have been transformed for other uses, such as
parliaments or
museums. The word is also sometimes used to describe a lavish public building which does not house a public figure; this use is intended to convey that the building is a "people's palace", where a sort of civic consciousness resides.
Historians apply the term "palace"
anachronistically, to label the complex structures of Minoan
Knossos, or the
Mycenaean palace societies, or the
4th century incompletely-Hellenized palace system of
Philip of Macedon's
Vergina— or palaces outside the European world entirely.
The word "palace" comes from the name of one of the
seven hills of Rome, the
Palatine Hill. The original 'palaces' on the
Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power, while the
capitol on the
Capitoline Hill was the seat of the senate and the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a desirable residential area.
Augustus Caesar lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbors by the two laurel trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his "
Golden House" enlarged the house and grounds over and over until it took up the hill top. The word
Palatium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighborhood on top of the hill.
"Palace" meaning "government" can be recognized in a remark of
Paul the Deacon, writing ca 790 and describing events of the 660s: "When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he intrusted his palace to Lupus" (
Historia gentis Langobardorum, V.xvii). At the same time
Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his "palace" at
Aachen, of which only his chapel remains. In the
9th century the "palace" indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly-travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the early Middle Ages, the
Palas remained the seat of government in some German cities. In the
Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent
electors came to be housed in palaces (
Paläste) This has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only one supreme monarch would be allowed to call their home a
palace.
In France there has been a clear distinction between a
château and a
palais. The palace has always been urban, like the
Palais de la Cité in
Paris (
above), which was the royal palace of France and is now the supreme court of justice of France, or the palace of the
Popes at
Avignon (
illustration, left).
The château, by contrast, has always been in rural settings, supported by its
demesne, even when it was no longer actually fortified. Speakers of English think of the "
Palace of Versailles" because it was the residence of the king of France, and the king was the source of power, though the building has always remained the
Château de Versailles for the French, and the seat of government under the
ancien regime remained the
Palais du
Louvre. The Louvre had begun as a fortified
Château du Louvre on the edge of Paris, but as the seat of government and shorn of its fortified architecture and then completely surrounded by the city, it developed into the
Palais du Louvre.
 |
A palatial quinta: the Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal (Luigi Mannini, architect 1904–1910) |
In Italy, where localized regimes lasted to the 19th century, many a small former capital displays its
Palazzo Ducale, the seat of government. In Florence and other strong
communal governments, the seat of government was the
Palazzo della Signoria until in Florence the Medici were made Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Then, when the power center shifted to their residence in
Palazzo Pitti, the old center of power began to be called the
Palazzo Vecchio.
But indeed, in some
Italian cities, it is not uncommon to find many "palaces," including some comparatively humble mansions, each built by one of the principal noble families. Each family's
palazzo was a hive that contained all the family members, though it might not always show a grand architectural public front. In the 20th century
palazzo in Italian came to apply to any large fine apartment building.
In England, by tacit agreement, there have been no "palaces" other than those used as official residences by royalty and certain
bishops. Thus the
Palace of Beaulieu gained its name precisely when Thomas Boleyn sold it to
Henry VIII in 1517; previously it had been known as Walkfares. But like several other palaces, the name stuck even once the royal connection ended. Although
the Palace of Blenheim (
illustration, left) was never a royal residence, the name was part of the extraordinary honour when the house was given by a grateful nation to a great general. (Along with several royal and
episcopal palaces in the countryside, Blenheim does demonstrate that "palace" has no specific urban connotations in English.)
As on the continent, these royal and episcopal palaces were not merely residences; the clerks who administered the realm or the diocese labored there as well. (To this day many bishops' palaces house both their family apartments and their official offices.) However, unlike the "Palais du Justice" which is often encountered in the French-speaking world, modern British public administration buildings are never called "palaces"; although the formal name for the "Houses of
Parliament" is the
Palace of Westminster, this reflects Westminster's former role as a royal residence and centre of administration.
In more recent years, the word has been used in a more informal sense for other large, impressive buildings, such as
The Crystal Palace of
1851 (an immensely large, glazed hall erected for the
Great Exhibition) and modern arenas-cum-convention centres like
Alexandra Palace (which is no more a palace than
Madison Square Garden is a garden).
''For the
household staff of palaces, see
great house.
*
List of palaces
