The Old Royal Naval College are buildings that serve as the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding universal value" and reckoned to be the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles". The buildings were originally constructed to serve as Greenwich Hospital, designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869 and so between 1873 and 1998 the buildings were used as a training establishment for the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The site is now managed by the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College, established in 1997 to conserve the buildings and grounds and convert them into a cultural destination.
The Chapel is in Queen Mary Court (left) and the Painted Hall is in King William Court (right). The domes are above the entrances.
The Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital as drawn by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson
John Michael Rysbrack's George II (1735) in the Grand Square of the Greenwich Hospital
Badge of the Royal Hospital on the Water Gate of the Royal Naval College
Greenwich is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-south-east of Charing Cross.
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College and University of Greenwich buildings on the bank of the River Thames
Prehistoric burial mounds in Greenwich Park
Adriaen van Stalbemt's A View of Greenwich, c. 1632, showing King Charles I (in the black hat) and his family. Greenwich Palace can be seen in front of the River Thames behind them. Royal Collection, London.
