Old Royal Naval College

The buildings began in 1696 as the Royal Hospital for Seamen, a naval equivalent of Chelsea, designed by Christopher Wren with Nicholas Hawksmoor and John Vanbrugh and laid out in four blocks split down the middle because Queen Mary refused to have her view of the river from the Queen's House blocked. It became the Royal Naval College in 1873 and the university took over in 1998. The Painted Hall was intended as the pensioners' dining room and was decorated by James Thornhill between 1707 and 1726, covering ceiling and walls with an allegory of Protestant succession and British sea power; it is often called the finest baroque interior in England. A cleaning completed in 2019 removed centuries of grime.

What you actually see

• The Painted Hall - Thornhill's nineteen-year ceiling and wall scheme.
• The split layout - four blocks parted to preserve the Queen's House river view.
• The chapel - a rebuilt neoclassical interior after a 1779 fire.
• The riverside frontage - the ensemble seen from the Thames path or the far bank.

When to go

Year-round; the grounds and chapel are free and open daily. The Painted Hall is ticketed with a valid-for-a-year pass. Greenwich is busiest at weekends when the market runs.

Honest expectations

The Painted Hall charges while everything else is free, which catches people out. Parts of the site are a working university and closed. Films are shot here regularly, closing areas at short notice.

Nearby

The Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory are all in Greenwich.