Banqueting House, London

The Banqueting House in London is a historic place in England that is associated with the holding of many palace ceremonies. The Banqueting House was part of the old Royal Palace of Whitehall, which was burned to the ground by a devastating fire in 1698. The Banqueting House is actually the only building that survives from it. The building was designed in 1619 by Inigo Jones and completed in 1622 with the help of the architect John Webb. Such was the will of James I, who found the old building a rotten shack. The idea was to create a beautiful neoclassical building. In 1649 Charles I was executed on the scaffold in front of the building.
The building itself is a single room, two stories high, decorated with paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, which were commissioned by Charles I in 1635 to complete the ceiling paneling. The Banqueting House introduced a sophisticated Italian Renaissance style unknown in England until that time.
The Banqueting House was probably planned as part of a large new palace at Whitehall, but the tensions leading up to the Civil War prevented this. In 1685, the Banqueting House was the first building in England to use crown-type glass for windows.
The Banqueting House is associated with quite important events in the history of England. For example, it was here that Charles II celebrated his restoration in 1660, and here again, in 1689, William and Mary were offered the throne.
The Banqueting House also played the role of Royal Chapel and Museum until it was restored in 1963 and opened to visitors.