Daming Palace National Heritage Park locates at Taihua South Road in the central of Xi’an City. With the area of 3.2 square kilometers, Daming Palace National Heritage Park is the oldest, biggest and the best kept palace heritage in China. It is the national 4A tourist attraction and was announced as the important heritage site under state protection in 1961.
History of Daming Palace
Daming Palace National Heritage Park was re-built on the original site of Daming Palace in the Tang Dynasty. Daming Palace area was first built by Emperor Lishimin in the year of 634. Emperor Lishimin built the palace for his father to live in, but his father died in the year of 635, while the palace is not completed. In 662, Emperor Gaozong added lots of gardens and buildings, then the Daming Palace area became his clan's dwelling quarters. In the year of 896, the palace was destoryed due to the war.
Daming Palace is surrounded by the city wall of total 7.6 kilometers, and there are 11 gates from all sides. In the past, Daming Palace area had several palaces and temples. The biggest palace was called Huayuan. Other palaces were used to meet officials or foreign ambassadors. There was also a big and important pond called Taiye pond inside the area. There was also an archery hall, a garden, storehouses, a drum tower, a bell tower, and a Cuju sports field.
In the history, seventeen emperors governed the country at the Daming Palace during the Tang Dynasty, which had lasted for more than 200 years. In the past, Empress Wu Zetian, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, as well as Wu’s daughter, Princess Taiping, all lived in this palace.
Today’s Daming Palace
Daming Palace was the most splendid palace complex in the world at the time and also the political center and the symbol of Tang Empire. In 2007, the government and municipal committee of Xi'an issued a project to turn the historical Daming Palace area into the Daming Palace National Heritage Park. The project aims to protect the historical site and let more people know the royal area of the Tang Dynasty. In October, 2010, the park opened to the public.
Today, the remaining Daming Palace National Heritage Park is divided into two parts: a free zone and a toll zone. The toll zone includes the core area of the scenic spots: the remains of the Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall and the Daming Palace Relics Museum.