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| Iolani Palace is located in the heart of Honolulu's heritage district. It is the only royal palace on American soil. The palace's history is unique. For any visitor to Hawaii this is a place not to be missed. |
This year I was looking for something historic, Hawaiian and high-tech.
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| I always look forward to Smithsonian Magazine's Annual Museum Day Live! Each year it is held on the final Saturday of September. Affiliate museums across the USA open their doors to ticket holders for free. This year I chose Iolani Palace. |
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| This is a picture of a lively group of students from Korea Tourism College I escorted on a visit to the palace several years ago. The royal bunting you see is part of the annual commemoration of King Kalakaua's birthday. |
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| Here I am in early 2013 escorting a group of students from Seisen Women's Junior College, Japan. We were visiting the Hawaii State Legislature, Iolani Palace, Hawaiian Mission Houses and the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center. |
In early 2013 I escorted a group of visiting English-as-a-Second Language students from Seisen Women’s Junior College in Japan. On that day we went on a docent-led tour of the palace. Interior non-flash photography was only recently allowed.
Iolani Palace is a fantastic place to glean into the royal history of Hawaii. Visitors are encouraged to stroll around the palace grounds, which are free and open to the public.
Fastidiously and thoroughly restored to its bygone, Gilded Age majesty, this National Historic Landmark in Honolulu weaves tales of the lives and legacies when King Kalakaua and his successor and sister Queen Lili'uokalani called this place the royal residence of the Hawaiian Islands.
It was built in 1882. Most of the materials used to build the palace were imported from the U.S. mainland.
King Kalakaua was born in 1836. Before ascending the throne he was a military aide to Kamehameha IV. Kalakaua was fluent in English. In his role he met many of the foreign luminaries. One of those was the Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Queen Victoria of the British Empire. The future king escorted him on a tour of the islands. Kalakaua like many was concerned about the decline of the Native Hawaiian population, due in large part to imported diseases that natives did not have immunity from. He actively supported efforts to preserve traditional Hawaiian culture, brought back hula and helped to foster a revival of Hawaiian musical traditions. He even composed the Hawaiian national anthem.
In 1874 he traveled to the United States to meet President Ulysses S. Grant and address a joint session of Congress. In that address Kalakaua presented reasons for a need to have a better trade agreement between the kingdom and the U.S., including a treaty on sugar.
On that same voyage King Kalakaua met inventors Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. A proponent of technological advancement, the king incorporated the use of electricity and a telephone in the construction of Iolani Palace.
What you find inside Iolani Palace -and its stories- will mesmerize you! Shall we begin? Let's go!
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| The King's Guard's Barracks -location of the gift shop, video theatre and admissions. |
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| The multi-lingual sign sets forth the rules for visiting Iolani Palace. No smoking, food, large bags and cell phones must be turned off. |
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| Once you enter the barracks there is an outdoor seat area for you to use while waiting for your tour to begin. Restrooms are available here. It was a particularly hot day when I visited. |
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| Welcome to Iolani Palace's gift shop. This is where you choose your visitation type and pay your admission. You are greeted with Hawaii's renowned Aloha Spirit by shop and museum staff. |
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| After visitors purchase their tickets they are directed to the video theater for a short introduction. |
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| The video is in English, providing a rich background of the various phases of the palaces construction, use and restoration. Then it was off to the waiting area to the rear of the palace. |
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| This is the rear portico of the palace. It is where visitors are given an orientation. Visitation rules are reviewed. Visitors are also required to don special "booties" that cover your footwear. That's to ensure the floors are not damaged. You know what I was wondering? What was that man photographing? |
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| There it was! This is a wonderful representation of the royal seal on the ceiling of the back lanai of the palace. The detailing is amazing, isn't it? |
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| I opted to go on the audio tour. It's something I'd never done before. This tour is not only less expensive than the docent-guided tour but it is also self-paced. That means that when a section of the tour concludes you can choose when you wish to proceed. Another huge benefit of the audio tour is that it is available in various languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French and English, of course. |
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| Etched glass windows are found on the doors of Iolani Palace. |
Upon entering the rear doors of the Grand Hall this was the first sight I beheld. The fir floors are original to the palace as is the Grand Staircase made of Hawaiian loa wood.
Cornices and moldings frame the Grand Hall into an architectural symphony of opulent styles -all this was built 132 years ago.
Objects such as these surround the Grand Hall of Iolani Palace. These were gifts from world leaders or acquisitions on voyages around the world from Europe, Asia and North America.
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| This is the Koa Staircase in the Grand Hall leading to the second floor. Visitors are not allowed to use the stairs. These are the only stairs connecting the Grand Hall with the royal residences upstairs. Servants used these stairs as well as member of the Hawaiian royal family. |
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| Such opulence! |
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| Could you imagine returning back to the late 1880's and walking in to behold this? |
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| Many people do not realize that Iolani Palace was one of the first such residences in the world to have electric lights. When King Kalakaua was on his American tour he met inventor Thomas Edison. The king was so impressed by the onset of electric lighting that he had the gas lights converted to electric -before this was the case with the White House in Washington, D.C. USA. |
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| The upper perimeter of the Grand Hall is lined with golden framed portraits of the Hawaiian Royal Family. Here were have Kina'u and Kamehameha II. Neither of them lived in this Iolani Palace, but they are buried on the palace grounds. |
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| King Alexander Lunalilo, the first elected King of the Hawaiian Kingdom. He, also, did not live in the palace. His burial place is nearby on the grounds of Kawaiahao Church. |
Welcome to the Palace's Blue Room. It was used for small receptions and informal gatherings and audiences.
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| This is a portrait of Queen Liliuokalani by Williams Gogswell, an American portrait artist. |
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| The largest painting in the Iolani Palace Collection is this one of Louis Philippe of France. Arriving in 1848, the painting is so large and heavy that twelve men were required to carry it from Honolulu to the palace. It was given to Kamehameha III by the French government. |
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| Above the piano is a portrait of King David Kalakaua. His portrait was also done by William Cogswell. |
Immediately off the Music Room is the State Dining Room. What a delight this was! My imagination carried me back in time to a gilded period of fancy feasts and lively conversation over dinner with the alii (Hawaiian royals). Robert Louis Stevenson was one such visitor and friend of the king.
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| Forty guests could be accommodated in the State Dining Room. The Royal Hawaiian Band were stationed just outside where they would play waltzes, polkas and other musical works. European crystal, china and silverware graced the table you see in front of you. |
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| One of the interesting things I learned about King Kalakaua was his habit of sitting in the middle instead of at the head of the table. The king was a lively conversationalist who enjoyed engaging his guests. |
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| This is the Throne Room in Iolani Palace. The lighting here is subdued, yet the experience of being in here was hardly so. |
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| Gala bashes and elegant celebrations were held here. King Kalakaua had a knack for remembering the names of his guests. Some of his legendary parties were attended by as many as 500 guests. |
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| This is one of many chandeliers in the palace -in this case the Throne Room- that was converted from gas-powered to electric, years before that would be the case with the White House in Washington, D.C. |
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| Welcome to the Gold Room, also known as the Music Room. Its restoration was incomplete when I last toured the palace. I was delighted! This is my favorite room in Iolani Palace. |
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| The Gold Room officially reopened in fully restored form in April, 2011. |
It had taken the Friends of Iolani Palace years to track down the furnishings featured here. Iolani Palace's Gold Room is a beaming marriage of opulent warmth, Gilded Age style and fine taste. This room is simply blazing! There are nine floor-to-ceiling windows. The gold and brown tones of this room are inviting. The rich, golden mohair satin drapes frame in the sunshine illuminating this room.
Believe it or not restorationists were able to reproduce the authentic shimmering colors in the Gold Room from only several original fabric samples. The carpets here are of Japanese design and recreated in England. The touches of blue and pink are recreated from styles of the year the palace was built, 1882.
As I toured this room I could almost hear the music, the conversations, indeed, the experience became for me all that more authentic.
In the image above note the tusks standing on the table. As one who has worked in historic preservation most of his adult life I can't quite describe the joy we feel when something authentic and original to and historic house is retrieved and brought back to life.
The table is made of Hawaiian loa wood. The table and elephant tusks were gifts to the king on his 50th-birthday jubilee in 1886. Would you believe these items ended up in, of all places, Minnesota? It's true. Now it is back where it belongs and for all to enjoy.
After the 1893 overthrow of the the monarchy and Queen Liliuokalani, the provisional government sold and auctioned off most of the palaces furnishings. The search for palace furnishings and artifacts is a global one. That search is on-going, resulting in the majestic experience we behold today as we stroll in this truly one-of-a-kind royal residence.
After leaving the Gold Room I rode the elevator to the second floor. This is where the royal family members lived. It here that the history of this grand palace is mixed with joy and sadness in a tumultuous time in history.
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| Welcome to the second floor Grand Hall. |
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| These are 19th century dumbwaiters! By definition, a dumbwaiter is a small freight elevator designed and intended to move objects, not people. Dumbwaiters were invented in by New York inventor George W. Cannon. |
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| I captured this image of the Grand Koa Staircase from the second floor royal residences. |
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| There is no "home office" like this one! Welcome to King Kalakaua's office in Iolani Palace. |
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| This is another view of King Kalakaua's office. |
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| Yes, what you are seeing is a 19th century telephone. The King would use this to call palace servants. |
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| This is King Kalakaua's bedroom. |
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| King Kalakaua's bed. |
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| Indoor plumbing was relatively new in the 1880s. There are bathrooms in the palace that include working toilets, bathtubs and showers such as this one off the King's bedroom. |
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| Queen Kapiolani was King Kalakaua's wife. This is her bedroom. |
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| Queen Kapiolani's bed in Iolani Palace. |
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| This is one of the upstairs bathrooms with sink and toilet. |
It is at this point that the tone of Iolani Palace's history takes a sadder tone. After the King died at age 54 in 1891 he was succeeded by his sister, Queen Liliuokalani. She reigned for two years and then was overthrown in 1893 by business interests who planned on forming a provisional government.
After the overthrow of the monarchy she moved to nearby Washington Place, now the Governor's mansion off South Beretania Street. In 1895 royalists launched a rebellion to reinstate her to the throne. The rebellion failed and Liliuokalani was arrested.
She was tried and convicted for treason in the Throne Room and imprisoned in the palace. The windows of this second-floor room are kept covered as they were during her eight-month incarceration. She was prohibited from seeing the outside.
A devout Christian, it was in this room that Liliuokalani composed The Queen's Prayer:
The Imprisonment Room is dominated by a quilt that documents Liliuokalani's imprisonment. The Star Bulletin featured a detailed story about this quilt in March, 2003. Click here to read it.
The room is sparsely and bleakly furnished. Liliuokalani spent her days sewing, reading and composing music and in daily devotionals. What a contrast this room is to a painting in another of the palace's rooms in which she and Queen Kapiolani voyaged to London to attend Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
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| It is not obvious at first that one of the upstairs rooms is blocked as you see here. This is the room where despised-Queen Liliuokalai was imprisoned after her arrest and conviction. She would return to Washington Place for the remainder of her life. Queen Liliuokalani died in 1917 after a stroke. |
I rode the elevator the the ground floor where I returned to the rear portico, returned my audio set and shoe booties. We were directed to venture to the basement level of the palace. This area features a number of exhibits and spaces, including the Chamberlain's office and the palace kitchen. In many ways the basement level is a museum unto itself.
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| Welcome to the center hallway of the basement in Iolani Palace. |
Iolani Palace's kitchen is quite substantial. In a way that's no surprise, especially given the King's habit of hosting large numbers of guests at any given time.
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| The Royal Pantry where an assortment of the real chinaware used is recreated and displayed. |
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| The dumbwaiters I saw on the second floor residential hallway extend down to the kitchen in the basement. You get an idea of their size of the dumbwaiters and their uses in this picture. |
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| There is a section of the basement where suite of toilets such as this one are found. These would have been exclusively used by palace staff. |
Iolani Palace is a beautifully restored masterpiece of Hawaiian Gilded Age history. It's history is both uplifting and saddening, yet compelling and never dull. Those who continue the work of restoring the palace to its grandeur and educate the public of its history are filled with a devotion to their mission that makes your experience here an unforgettable one. While I take nothing at all away from the docent-guided tours, I recommend the audio tour.
For those of you who opt to drive to the palace you will find that parking is a challenging and an expensive one.
Public buses pick up and drop off passengers from a block away. If you stay at a hotel the staff on duty should be able to guide yo from Waikiki to this special, must-see destination. At this time the fare is US$2.50 one-way.
Note: Always get a transfer ticket from the bus driver when boarding and paying cash. Look at the time your ticket allows you a free transfer. Make it a point of being back on your return trip when you board again.
The walk from the bus tops is not a far one, and you will bear witness to both historic, classical Honolulu and the modern-day 21st century business district nearby.
Iolani Palace is located at 364 South King Street, Honolulu. Click here for a link to its official web site.
Tours & Tickets
Pre-recorded tour information: 808-538-1471
808-522-0832 or 808-522-0823
palacetickets@iolanipalace.org
808-522-0832 or 808-522-0823
palacetickets@iolanipalace.org
Iolani Palace Shop
808-532-1050
shops@iolanipalace.org
Fax: 808-532-1049
shops@iolanipalace.org
Fax: 808-532-1049
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