Kawaiahaʻo Church is a historic Congregational church located in Downtown Honolulu on the Hawaiian Island of Oʻahu. The church, along with the Mission Houses, comprise the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site, which was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1962. In 1966 it and all other NHLs were included in the first issuance of the National Register of Historic Places.
Kawaiahaʻo Church is known as the "Westminster Abbey of Hawaiʻi": site of royal weddings, inaugurations, installations, christenings, funerals and tombs.
First known photograph of the church in 1857 by Hugo Stangenwald
The grass church that preceded the stone church seated 4000 people; by Francis Allyn Olmsted
Kawaiaha'o Church and front gate
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuʻuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, and Honolulu Harbor to the south. Both modern and historic buildings and complexes are located in the area, with many of the latter declared National Historic Landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places.
A view of downtown Honolulu from atop Aloha Tower
The iconic Aliʻiōlani Hale in the Capitol District of Honolulu
An aerial view of downtown Honolulu, Hawaiʻi taken on April 7, 2007. In the foreground is Aloha Tower, a clock tower and lighthouse greeting visitors to Honolulu Harbor since 1926. In the center of the photo is First Hawaiʻian Center, the second tallest building and oldest bank in Hawaiʻi. In the lower right is the Falls of Clyde, the only surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full rigged ship, and the only surviving sail-driven oil tanker in the world. The Falls of Clyde is now a museum ship in Honolulu Harbor.
Hawaiʻi Theatre
