Cycling to Historic Places (Tour #2)

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Cycling to Historic Places

Tour 2:
Visit the sites of ancient palaces and temples.

For this tour you will have to use your imagination a bit as the sites suggested to visit here no longer have the palaces of the kings in tact. The older palaces of the kings and noble class were made entirely of teak and no longer exist. Indeed, the teak remains of one of the last Thai style teak palaces of the Governor of Chiangmai were removed and rebuilt at the Ancient City theme park outside of Bangkok. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries deposed royalty and the gentry began to build themselves palaces and mansions in imitation of Western architecture. The American Consulate is a former royal palace. Visitors can get an idea of this style of architecture by looking at a couple of mansion style houses on the west bank of Ping River, across the Nakhon Ping bridge.

From the time of King Mengrai, Chiangmai's founder in the late 13th century to the time of the Jao Jed Tohn dynasty, Chiangmai's last, the mansions and palaces of the royalty and nobility were built inside the city wall, considered auspicious ground. After the Lanna Kingdom was annexed to become a part of the Thai Kingdom, the mansions and palaces were moved to the then commercial sector of the city on the western bank of the Ping River.

1. Old Provincial Hall: Start your tour here, once the site of the palace of King Gawilorot. This is the site of the Three Kings monument which pays tribute to Chiangmai's founder, King Mengrai, and two other Sukhothai era monarchs who cooperated to bring peace and unification to the land of "1,000 rice fields."	1. Old Provincial Hall
2. Cross over to the Old City Court and you are at the site of the palace of Jao Gawilorot Suriwong. Both these building are used for other administrative functions and the Provincial Hall and Court were relocated on the Mae Rim-Fang road in more spacious grounds.	2. Old City Court
3. Go to the Yoopparaj School and you are at the site of the palace of King Inthawichayanon. The school grounds has a cultural museum that is open to the public.	3. Yoopparaj School
4. Go to the Khoom Gaew Palace and you are at the site of the palace of Jao Rajawong.	4. Khoom Gaew Palace
5. From there visit the Office of the Tobacco Cooperative and you will be at the site of the palace of Jao Buriraat. Chiangmai was once a center of tobacco production but this has declined significantly in recent years.	5. Tobacco Cooperative
6. Now visit the forbidding Chiangmai Provincial Prison inside whose walls was located the palace of King Gawila. The location of the new prison is on Chotana Road.	6. Old Chiangmai Prison
7. Next on the itinerary is Wat Pun Tao which was the site of the mansion that belonged to Mahotaraprathet.	7. Wat Pun Tao
8. Finally visit A.U.A.A. The American University Alumni Association is one of Chiangmai's leading English Language Schools and was the site of Jao Rajaboot's.
9. Chiangmai Numismatic Museum featuring the country's historic coins and medals.
10. An old-style Chiangmai house, of which few remain.	10. Old-style House

See related articles (Cycling to Historic Places):

Cycling to Historic Places

Tour 2: Visit the sites of ancient palaces and temples.

Tour 2:
Visit the sites of ancient palaces and temples.