Bagh-e Bala Palace

The Bagh-e Bala Palace is a former royal palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is located at a hilltop in the Bagh-e Bala (باغ بالا, High Garden) park near Karte Parwan. It was built by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan in 1893 as a place for him to spend summers in, and he later died there in 1901.[1] The palace has a large pool (added in the 1970s) and is surrounded by pine trees.[2] It was then used as a castle under Emir Habibullah Khan and then as a guesthouse. In 1919 it housed the National Museum of Afghanistan before the collection was moved elsewhere, and the palace became a military house under King Amanullah Khan. After being abandoned by 1930, it was renovated and turned into a restaurant under King Zahir Shah in the 1960s.[3][4] The palace survived the civil war of the 1990s. It was renovated again in the 2000s and 2010s, with its interior preserved to look like the original 19th century design,[5][6] but it is currently not in official use. The area around the palace (Bagh-e Bala) has become a large public park. The palace was also the location where American historians Nancy and Louis Dupree married in 1966.[7]

Bagh-e Bala visible in the distance

Aerial view of the palace and gardens around it

The palace can be seen in the distance