You are here

Hawaii » Oahu » Honolulu and Vicinity » Nuuanu Valley » Royal Mausoleum, Mauna Ala

Royal Mausoleum, Mauna Ala

-A A +A
1865, Theodore C. Heuck. 2261 Nuuanu Ave.
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)
  • (Photograph by Augie Salbosa)

Built to house the bodies of Kamehameha IV and his four-year-old son, who had died in 1863 and 1861, respectively, this Gothic Revival coral-block building follows a Latin cross plan. Upon completion of the mausoleum in 1865, eighteen coffins of kings and aliʻi were removed from the Iolani Palace grounds and interred here. Subsequently, these bones were moved into family crypts on the mausoleum's grounds and the building was converted into a chapel in 1922, thanks to the generosity of Prince Kuhio's widow, Princess Elizabeth Kahanu Kaauwai Kalanianaole. The lavish koa interior dates from a remodeling in 1950. The building was restored in 1987.

A United States congressional declaration exempts in perpetuity Mauna Ala from all land laws, transactions, and uses other than a royal burial site. It is the only place in the nation that the flag of the Kingdom of Hawaii is permitted to fly unaccompanied by the American flag.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Don J. Hibbard
×

Data

What's Nearby

Tenri Cultural Center
Community Church of Honolulu
Kyoto Gardens Kinkaku-ji
St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Honolulu Myohoji

Citation

Don J. Hibbard, "Royal Mausoleum, Mauna Ala", [Honolulu, Hawaii], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/HI-01-OA77.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Hawaii

Buildings of Hawaii, Don J. Hibbard. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011, 125-125.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,