Palace of Placentia

The Palace of Placentia, also known as Greenwich Palace, was an English royal residence that was initially built by Prince Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in 1443. Over the centuries it took several different forms, until it was turned into a hospital in the 1690s. The palace was a place designed for pleasure, entertainment and an escape from the city. It was located at Greenwich on the south bank of the River Thames, downstream from London.

On a hill behind his palace, the duke built Duke Humphrey's Tower, later known as Greenwich Castle; the "castle" was subsequently demolished to make way for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, which survives. The original river-side residence was extensively rebuilt around 1500 by King Henry VII. A detached residence, the Queen's House, was built on the estate in the early 1600s and also survives. In 1660, the old main palace was demolished by Charles II to make way for a proposed new palace, which was only partly constructed in the east wing. Nearly forty years later, at the behest of Queen Mary II, the Greenwich Hospital (now called the Old Royal Naval College) remodelled this wing, expanded, and rebuilt on the site.

Text adapted from “Palace of Placentia” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Palace of Placentia ranks #365 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #30 of the 329 mapped in England. Founded 1443, it is older than 50% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 434 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 27,157 times in the last 60 days, more than 98% of the atlas. 27 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is London, 9 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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