Aliiolani Hale (House of Heavenly Kings), Honolulu

Aliiolani Hale is a building located in downtown Honolulu, currently used as the home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court. It is the former seat of government of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Aliiolani Hale was designed by Australian Thomas Rowe in an Italian Renaissance Revival as the royal palace for King Kamehameha V. In the Hawaiian language, Aliiolani Hale means "House of Heavenly Kings". The name "Aliiolani" was also one of the given names of Kamehameha V.

Although the building was designed to be a palace, Kamehameha V realized that the Hawaiian government desperately needed a government building. At that time, the several buildings in Honolulu used by the government were very small and cramped, clearly inadequate for the growing Hawaiian government. Thus, when Kamehameha V ordered construction of Aliiolani Hale, he commissioned it as a government office building instead of a palace.

Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for the building on February 19, 1872. He died before the building was completed, and it was dedicated in 1874 by one of his successors, King David Kalakaua. At the time, Hawaiian media criticized the building's extravagant design, suggesting that the building be converted into a palace as originally designed.

In 1893, Aliiolani Hale was the site of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani. The Committee of Safety, led by Lorrin Thurston and assisted by US Marines, deposed the queen. Today, Aliiolani Hale is on the National Register of Historic Places, and houses the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center.

Located in the building's courtyard is the famed gold-leaf statue of Kamehameha the Great.