Old Royal Naval College

A permanent display at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, built around a guided visit through its historic interiors and the story of the riverside estate.

The visit traces the history of the Old Royal Naval College, a riverside estate in Greenwich, through its historic rooms. It opens in the Painted Hall, a seventeenth-century space often called the country's Sistine Chapel, where the attention falls on the painted decoration and the stories behind it.

An audio guide accompanies the route and explains the background to the works in the hall. The tour then moves on to the Chapel, which is counted among Britain's finest eighteenth-century interiors and shows the craftsmanship and detail of that period. The tour is award-winning, and the route presents the story of Greenwich as beginning on this site.

The visit suits those interested in architecture, decorative painting and the history of Greenwich who want to follow the estate's development from its origins onwards. It is a permanent display, so the route can be followed at any point while the site is open.