Honestly, this house is generally difficult to call a house or even a mansion. Look at him and you will understand why.

Nevertheless, it is the largest residential building in the world. More specifically, the residential palace of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the ruler of Brunei and one of the richest people in the world, whose fortune is estimated at $ 20 billion. For tourists, it is open only three days a year. Therefore, we suggest visiting it virtually.

1. Queen of England has fewer rooms

Yes, yes, less. And three times. This gigantic palace has 1,788 rooms. For some reason, it seems to me that this was a special idea: Brunei was a colony of Britain until 1984, so why not surpass the Queen of England?)

The area of ​​the giant residence exceeds 200 thousand square meters. Not surprisingly, the building is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

And this palace, as befits any palace, has a name – Istana Nurul Iman, which means “Palace of Light.” It is located in the center of the capital of Brunei – the city of Bandar Seri Begawan.

The building was built in 1984 by the project of the Philippine architect Leandro Loxin, in time for Brunei to gain independence from Britain. Kuan Chu, who also worked on the most famous hotel in Dubai, Burj al-Arab, was engaged in interior decoration.

The cost of the residence is not entirely clear: in some sources it is alleged that the palace cost $ 500 million, and in others – $ 1.4 billion.

2. If I were a Sultan

So what is on 200 thousand square meters? Everything is very simple: 5 pools, 257 bathrooms, 18 elevators, 44 stairwells, a banquet hall for 5 thousand people, stables for 200 horses, a garage for almost 160 cars. And for sure you will not be surprised that this garage contains the most expensive car models in the world. The hobby of the Sultan is: collecting cars. By the way, this is another world record. According to various estimates, Hassanal Bolkiah has from 3 to 7 thousand cars.

Many of them are custom made. So, he has more than 600 copies of Rolls-Royce, about 500 Ferrari and Koenigsegg, and also champion Formula 1 cars. And one of the Rolls-Royce is plated with 24 carat gold.

Ask where the rest of the machines are stored? The sultan has three more palaces.

Hassanal Bolkiah also has another hobby: he collects canvases by famous artists. For example, he has a Renoir painting worth $ 70 million. They are also stored in the palace.

But in addition to all this, Istan Nurul Iman also serves as the working residence of the Sultan. So, there is a throne room, government offices and its own mosque, which can accommodate up to 1,500 people.

By the way, 564 chandeliers and 51,000 light bulbs are used only to illuminate the entire building.

3. Three happy days of the year to visit this oriental tale

Istana Nurul Iman can be visited by tourists. True, it is open 3 days a year during Muslim holidays: Hari Raya Poissa, the last day of Ramadan and the next Eid al-Fitr. But these days it collects about 110 thousand visitors. The guests here are treated with reverence: they are fed and even handed them bags with gifts and money for children.