Royal Palace, Tonga

The Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Tonga is located in the northwest of the capital, Nukuʻalofa, close to the Pacific Ocean.

In line with the deference Tongans have for the Royal Family, poets almost never refer to the palace (pālasi) by name, but use heliaki or allegoric references like: Fanga-tapu ("sacred beach", for the stretch of shoreline fronting the building); Loto-ʻā ("inside the fence"); ʻĀ-maka ("stone fence"); and Hangai Tokelau ("north-wind-against"), the name of a tree near the kitchen, and so forth.

There is a palace in Fuaʻamotu, as well as Kauvai near Longoteme, Liukava ("revolution") in Kolovai, and both Tufumāhina and Vila (villa) between Koloua and Pea.

There is Tauʻakipulu palace on Lifuka in Haʻapai, Fangatongo ("mangrove beach") near Talau on Vavaʻu, and residences in Niuafoʻou and Niuatoputapu.

In the 1980s, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV had a new palace built on a mountaintop near Houma, but it was unused and by around 1990 only the artistically made bathtub remained, overgrown by weeds and disappearing sometime around 2000.