The Forbidden City of Gugong is the largest and most famous palace complex in the world. It served as the residence of twenty-four powerful rulers of two dynasties - Ming and Qing. The place for its construction was determined by astronomers and, in their opinion, it is located exactly in the center of the globe. Today, heading to the Forbidden City, you need to go through only three gates: Tiananmen, Duanmen and, finally, the main gate of the palace - Wumen. In former times, for foreign ambassadors and officials, the path to the palace was longer: they passed through five gates.→