This English-Style Chapel Once Housed the Remains of Hawaii’s Royals

Sometimes the best part of church crawling is finding the unexpected.

One such example is the chapel on the four-acre grounds of the Hawaiian Royal Mausoleum State Monument in Honolulu.

As with St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the chapel is a visible reminder when America’s 50^th state was a monarchy.

Designed in the Gothic Revival style by architect Theodore Heuck, it was built between 1863 and 1865 when the Hawaiian state church was Anglican in establishment and under the influence of the Church of England. It wouldn’t become part of the Episcopal Church until the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by American interests.

The cruciform-shaped chapel was originally the mausoleum, but the remains of royals from Hawaii’s Kalākaua and Kamehameha dynasties were transferred to a nearby underground tomb in 1922. Other remains were transferred to family plots.

After the remains were removed alterations funded by the wife of Jonah Kalanianaʻole, the former prince of Hawaii-turned-U.S. congressman, gave the chapel the appearance it has today.

Unfortunately, it was locked when I visited. Thankfully, a couple of the lancet windows were left open, allowing me a glimpse of the interior with its wood pews and furniture, dark red carpeting and koa wood-paneled walls. The carpet covers flooring that originally would have been coral.

If you didn’t know better this chapel could be an Anglican parish church in the English countryside.

Spires and Crosses is published every week.