Royal Palace, Luang Prabang, Royal palace museum in Luang Prabang, Laos.

The Royal Palace combines traditional Lao architecture with French Beaux-Arts design, featuring a double-cruciform layout and marble steps at the entrance. The building holds multiple rooms filled with royal furnishings, religious objects, and decorative details from when it served as a residence.

Built in 1904 for King Sisavang Vong, the palace was sited so that official visitors could disembark from river voyages directly below it. Crown Prince Savang Vatthana and his family were the last to occupy the grounds. In 1975 the monarchy was overthrown and the palace became a national museum.

The name Haw Kham means "gilded hall." In the king's reception room, murals painted in 1930 by French artist Alix de Fauntereau show Lao processions to the Chiang Thong and Suwannaphum temples; each wall was designed to be viewed at the time of day its light depicts. The queen's reception room holds 1967 portraits by Russian painter Ilya Glazunov.

Visitors must remove shoes and store bags in lockers, while conservative clothing is expected. Those without adequate coverage can rent skirts at the entrance.

The Phra Bang, the palace's most sacred image, stands 83 cm tall and weighs about 50 kg; legend holds it was cast in Sri Lanka in the 1st century and reached Laos in 1359 as a gift from a Khmer king to his son-in-law Fa Ngum. Siam took it twice, in 1779 and 1827, and King Mongkut returned it in 1867. A moon rock from an Apollo mission sits among the diplomatic gifts.