Istan Palace Nurul Iman (Palace of Light) is located 3.5 km from the center of Brunei's capital - Bandar Seri Begawan. The palace of the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest residential residence of the head of state - it is several times larger than the Versailles and Buckingham palaces. The Palace of Light was built in 2 years, its construction was completed on January 1, 1984 and coincided with the date of Brunei's independence from Britain. The architecture of the Sultan's residence is a mixture of European and traditional Malay styles, the author of the project is the architect Leandro Loxin, more than $ 1 billion was spent on the construction. The area of the palace is 200,000 square meters, it contains 1,788 rooms, the mosque of the palace can accommodate up to 1,500 people, and the banquet hall - more than 5,000 guests. The palace has a helipad, stables, an underground garage with an area of 1 square kilometer, 5 swimming pools. The interior is decorated with 38 kinds of valuable marble, window and doorways are decorated with solid gold tiles, door handles are also golden. The Sultan owns a collection of the most expensive cars in the world, some of which are made in a single copy. The palace houses a large collection of paintings by famous artists, including Renoir's painting "Ball at the Moulins de la Galette", bought by the Sultan in 1980 for $ 70 million.