Iolani Palace is located in the Honolulu downtown. It used to be the home of kings and queens of the monarchs in Hawaii. It is about four storeys high. The palace has 10 rooms. It took 4 years to finish building the palace. King Kalakaua commissioned the building of Iolani Palace because he wanted to make Hawaiian a modern nation. Three architects worked on the palace and it was finished constructed on the August of 1882. The palace was originally called Hale Ali’i. Later, the name of the palace was changed to Iolani Palace. It was named after the Hawaiian hawk Io, which means that the Hawaiian royalty is exalted as the soaring hawk.
The palace features American Florentine style. The construction of the palace nearly causes the Hawaiian kingdom to become bankrupt. After the Hawaiian monarchs were overthrown, the palace is used as legal office. The Hawaiian royalty lived in the palace for 11 years. Many of the original items have been restored to the palace.
Many of the palace objects have been auctioned to foreign countries. However, efforts to retrieve the missing objects have been taken. Some of the items that are retrieved include palace furnishings, ornaments and etc. As you explore the palace, you can check out the historic photos and learn about the monarchy era.
You can participate in the guided tour if you want to explore the Iolani Palace. In the guided tour, you will learn about the royal residents in the palace. You will begin touring the rooms on the first floor. After that, you will tour the rooms on the second floor. The tour will finally end in the basement. You will be free to explore the gallery when in the basement. The guided tour often gets fully booked so it is recommended that you make an early reservation. Every 15 minutes, a new tour will enter into the palace. The tour is available in foreign languages such as Japanese, and Chinese.
Self-led tour is available at the Iolani Palace. In the self-led tour, you will hear a pre-recorded audio when exploring the Iolani Palace. The self-led tour will last for 45 minutes. It is available in English as well as other languages such as Japanese and Hawaiian. New self-led tour will begin at every 10 minutes. In the basement, you can view a large collection of royalty treasures. The Hawaiian crown jewel is one of the exhibits in the basement gallery.