Iolani Palace - A King's Modern Palace

Photo: Arjunkrsen, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)

A stop on Historic Downtown Honolulu Walk, a free self-guided tour.

You are standing before the only royal palace on U.S. soil. King Kalakaua completed it in 1882, a confident statement that Hawaii was a modern nation among nations. The king had traveled around the world, and he filled the palace with the latest technology, a throne room for state receptions and portraits of Hawaiian and European royalty.

The palace also holds the hardest chapter of Hawaiian history. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, this building became the seat of the new government. In 1895 Kalakaua's sister and successor, Queen Liliuokalani, was tried in her own former throne room and held prisoner in a small upstairs room for most of that year. The quilt she worked on there is still in the palace.

The building served as the capitol of the Republic, the Territory and the State until 1969, then was restored and opened as a museum in 1978. Tours run most days; check the website for current times and tickets.

Getting here: Start at the main gates on King Street, facing the palace steps.

Did you know?: The palace had electric lights in 1886, a few years before the White House was wired for electricity.

Photo op: Stand at the King Street gates and frame the palace straight on, with the twin towers and the royal coat of arms centered above the steps.

More on Wikipedia: ?Iolani Palace · Kalakaua · Lili?uokalani · Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Iolani Palace - A King's Modern Palace

Stops on this tour