Iolani Palace

The architecture of the royal palace in Honolulu is extremely eclectic .

Iolani ( Gav. ʻIolani , literally “heavenly hawk”) is the former residence of the Hawaiian monarchs Kalakaua and Liliuokalani in the center of Honolulu . This is the only royal palace in the United States . In 1978, it opened to tourists as a museum , and before that, for 80 years it was used to house the Hawaiian government.

After the transfer of the island's capital to Honolulu in 1845, King Kameamea III purchased from one of his relatives a neo - Greek coral tuff building, which was three times smaller than the modern palace. According to Hawaiian tradition, this palace had no bedrooms and utility rooms - only a throne room, reception and dining room. Kameamea V subsequently renamed it in honor of his brother, Iolani.

Kameamea V considered the cramped palace, termite- eaten by the termites , unworthy of the grandeur of the Hawaiian monarchy and planned to build a new residence in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance . It was erected across the street and is currently hosted by the State Supreme Court. In front of the "palace of the king of heaven" there is a monument to King Kameamea, who, however, never lived in it, passing it to the disposal of government agencies.

The current 4-story Iolani palace was built by Kalakaua in 1882 for 360 thousand dollars. It was equipped with telephones and electricity before the White House and Buckingham Palace and was generally considered quite comfortable. ^{[1] The} Hawaiian rulers occupied the building for only 11 years - until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. In the building, not only the library and crown jewels were preserved, but also the bedroom with Queen Liliuokalani's blanket. Here she was imprisoned after the second uprising of Wilcox .

On April 30, 2008, the palace’s entrances were blocked by unarmed Hawaiian separatists who shouted slogans about the illegality of the overthrow of royal power in 1893 ^[2] and the annexation of Hawaii ^[3] .