It is difficult to imagine the day when every visitor of the fabulous state of Brunei can go to the real existing palace of the Sultan in the city of Bandar Seri Begawan and shake hands with the great lord of “the Abode of Peace” which is the literal translation of the name of one of the richest countries in the world. In fact, there are three days in a year when the doors of the royal residence of the Istana Nurul Iman are open to everyone who wants to get acquainted with the history of the royal family, touch the true luxury of the East and feel like a real sultan or princess.
On these days all the guests receive small edible gifts, and little children - special green bags with paper money and hard coins.
The largest private residence in the world which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records was built by the famous Filipino architect Leandro Locsin and was given the beautiful name of Istana Nurul Iman which means “the Palace of the Light and Faith”. Its grand opening took place in 1984. The exterior of this magnificent example of palace architecture successfully combines golden domes of the Islamic style and Malay vaulted roofs. The interior belongs to the famous designer Huang Chu who designed the interior decoration of the world’s tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Everything there is finished with the rare varieties of marble and decorated with real gold tiles. The door handles, air conditioners buttons and various accessories are fully made out of precious metal. All this realm of luxury is illuminated with around 600 amazing crystal chandeliers.
The space of the palace is 200,000 square meters and it includes about 2,000 rooms on 17 floors, 18 spacious elevators, and its own mosque that can accommodate more than 1,500 devout Muslims. Moreover, the palace has 5 swimming pools, a helipad, royal stables for 200 horses, and 110 huge garages where you can see more than 7,000 luxury cars some of which are the only copies in the world.