Culture of Honolulu. Places to visit - old town, temples, theaters, museums and palaces

Start your acquaintance with the city from making a walk through the picturesque district of Waikiki, which is home to a huge number of entertaining facilities. There is also the most popular city beach that has the same name. The beach is the location of one of the major attractions of the district area - Duke Kahanamoku statue – the world-famous athlete and the Olympic champion in swimming. It is believed that he has made such a sport like surfing internationally popular. Nowadays Honolulu is often called Mecca for surfers.

Pearl Harbor Naval Base is a no less important place of interest. The base was officially opened in 1911. The tragedy that took place here in 1941 killed more than two thousand people. The sunken Arizona battleship is still under water. Its top was turned into a beautiful monument in the memory of American sailors. All tourists are welcome to visit this historical monument – special boat excursions take place there every day. According to statistics, every year the memorial is visited by more than 1.5 million of people.

The crater of extinct Diamond Head Volcano is one of the most famous and most visited tourist attractions of Honolulu. The diameter of the crater is 1073 meters and its height is just 231 meters. Diamond Head has the full right to be called the most striking natural attraction of the island. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

You will also find remarkable religious sites in Honolulu. Kawaiahao Church is, probably, one of the most famous of them. The construction of the church lasted for more than five years and was completed in 1842. The beautiful cathedral is the first construction built by the Hawaiians and missionaries together. This fact makes the church even a more important architectural monument. Corals were the main building material for the construction of the church. Over 14,000 coral blocks in total were used for the building of this church. Builders literally had to dive to get materials for building. For a long time this luxury building was open for privileged persons only.

Iolani Palace is an equally impressive architectural monument. Once this palace was the property of the first Hawaiian monarch - David Kalakaua. After seeing the grandeur of the palaces that were built in the end of the 19th century in Europe, the monarch made an order to build a no less grandiose building in his home country. The construction lasted three years and was so large-scale that it almost drained the royal treasury. The monument of Kamehameha I is another symbolic attraction of Honolulu. You will find this monument on the square in front of the Supreme Court. A great ruler, warrior and diplomat, Kamehameha I became famous for his exploits, which are still not forgotten by local residents.