Chinese archaeologists solve mystery of Beijing’s Forbidden Palace
For the centuries, the location in Beijing of Kublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty palace remained a mystery. Experts at the Palace Museum now believe it was not near the Beijing’s most famous royal residence, but underneath it
Chinese archaeologists believe they may have solved one of the great mysteries of antiquity in Beijing – the site of the imperial palace of the Yuan dynasty established by Kublai Khan in the 13th century.
And while the Yuan palace was always believed to have been located near the present Forbidden City, experts from the Palace Museum now think it was under their feet, literally, in the centre of China’s most famous royal residence, Youth.cn reports.
Announcing the rare find yesterday, the experts said they had uncovered the foundations of a royal residence seven centuries old at the bottom layer of an archaeological dig in the centre of the Forbidden City.
The sprawling complex, built between 1406 and 1420, was the imperial palace of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and then the Qing dynasty until 1912.