England · 13th century
The Savoy Palace, considered the grandest nobleman's townhouse of medieval London, was the residence of prince John of Gaunt until it was destroyed during rioting in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The palace was on the site of an estate given to Peter II, Count of Savoy, in the mid-13th century, which in the following century came to be controlled by Gaunt's family and then the monarch by right of the Duchy of Lancaster. It was situated between the Strand and the River Thames. French monarch John II of France died here during his "honourable captivity", after an illness. In the locality of the palace, the administration of law was by a special jurisdiction, separate from the rest of the county of Middlesex, known as the Liberty of the Savoy.
The Tudor-era Savoy Chapel is located on the site of the former palace and has carried on the name. The name is also carried on by the Savoy Theatre and Savoy Hotel also located on the former estate.
Text adapted from “Savoy Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Savoy Palace ranks #729 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #53 of the 360 mapped in England. Founded 1263, it is older than 66% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 10,408 times in the last 60 days, more than 94% of the atlas. 23 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is London, 1 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →