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A palace for a modern kingdom
The cornerstone of ʻIolani Palace was laid on 31 December 1879, and the palace was completed in 1882 for King Kalākaua. The land is thought to have been the site of an ancient heiau, and an earlier royal residence, Hale Aliʻi, had stood there. Three architects, Thomas J. Baker, Charles J. Wall and Isaac Moore, contributed to a design whose style is known as American Florentine.


Light, water and ceremony
The palace was fitted with the most up-to-date amenities of its day, including electric lights, indoor plumbing and a telephone, and by June 1887 it was lit by 325 incandescent lights. On 12 February 1883, nine years into his reign, Kalākaua held a formal coronation ceremony.
Overthrow, imprisonment and restoration
In January 1893 Queen Liliʻuokalani was deposed and the Hawaiian monarchy overthrown. After an unsuccessful attempt by royalists to restore her in 1895, the Queen was tried before a military tribunal in her own Throne Room and imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom for nearly eight months. The palace then served as the capitol until 1969, and after its restoration it opened as a museum in 1978.


