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Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace, located in the southwest London borough of Richmond-upon-Thamse, is one of the most popular palaces in the world. The palace was built in 1514 by the archbishop of York and acquired by the king of England, when it fell in, and out, of monarchial favour. It became home to the world's oldest tennis court, as well to the impressive hedge maze of Hampton Court and priceless art collections. It was also known to house popular ghosts, as is the case with many English palaces.
The archbishop of York, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, began construction on Hampton Court Palace with lavish materials, rich decorations and exquisite gardens on the site of a former manor, and adding 1,000 rooms and 500 staff members. In 1562, Hampton Court was forced to be given as a gift to King Henry VIII, who expanded the palace again to include Tudor Court, the area where the world's oldest tennis court was built. Hampton Court has been home to many monarchs as a second home as well. King James I held the Hampton Court Conference with the English Puritans here. After the reign of George III in the 18th Century, monarchs began to prefer other homes in the heart of London, and Hampton Court lost privilege as a royal residence. In turn, the palace lost some of its glamor for the next decades. At the end of the 18th Century, a restoration campaign was launched, completed by Queen Victoria in the first half of the 19th century. The palace was then opened to the public, and today attracts thousands of tourists to its rich architecture, decorations and exhibited art collections. Among the most precious objects exhibited were the Raphael cartoons, which are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but a copy is still exhibited in Hampton Court. The palace is also famous for its exquisite gardens, and especially the world-renown hedge maze, one of the oldest in the world. The castle is also known for its ghosts, with reports from visitors and staff of strange occurances, voices and mystical figures. It is said that the ghost of Queen Jane Seymore, a wife of King Henry VIII, who died here after giving birth to Prince Edward, future king of England, still haunts the castle. Others have supposedly witnessed King Henry VIII's ghost, walking around with another one of his wives, Anne Boleyn. Supposedly, the security cameras of Hampton Court showed a female figure in a long dress closing the doors of the palace.
Name: Hampton Court Palace
Phone: +44 16 28 82 59 25
Price: 0 - 55EUR
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