 Kawaiaha'o Church is known as the Westminster Abbey of Hawaii, the site of coronations, royal christenings and funerals. It sits on Punchbowl Street near Iolani Palace and Ali'iolani Hale. King William C. Lunalilo's mausoleum is in its courtyard. Kawaiaha'o Church is the oldest Christian church in Hawai'i. Also called the "Westminster Abbey of Hawai'i," it is located on 957 Punchbowl Street in downtown Honolulu, near Iolani Palace and Aliiolani Hale. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.
Commissioned by Queen Kaahumanu, Kawaiaha'o is a New England-style structure comprised of over 14,000 slabs of coral, each slab weighing a thousand pounds. It was built between 1836 and 1842 at the same time the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace was constructed nearby.
Of the Congregational religious denomination, it was frequented by the Kamehameha and Kalakaua dynasties of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The upper gallery is decorated with the hanging portraits of Hawaii's ruling royal families. King William C. Lunalilo, who preferred to be buried in a church cemetery rather than the Royal Mausoleum, rests in the Kawaiaha'o courtyard.
Kawaiaha'o was not the only site of royal worship. St. Andrew's Cathedral, the Mother Church of the Anglican Church of Hawaii was preferred by Kamehameha IV, Queen Emma and Queen Queen Lili'uokalani.
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