Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace, originally known as the Presidential Palace or Palace of the Republic, was a large complex located in the Palace District of Coruscant, an ancillary of the Senate District. Originally built as the official residence for the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, the palace also served as an office building, complementing the delegation offices of the Senate Building. Following the election of Chancellor Palpatine, the Republic Executive Building was erected to accommodate overflow from the Palace.

Following the catastrophic Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine eradicated the Jedi Order and declared the reforming of the Republic into the Galactic Empire and renaming the Palace of the Republic as the Imperial Palace. Expanding the complex significantly, Emperor Palpatine created a labyrinthine maze inside the pyramidal structure and remodeled the palace to serve as the government complex of the Galactic Empire, while the Emperor confined himself to his throne room for most of his reign as his primary residence. Following the death of the Emperor and the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War the Palace was taken by the New Republic and raided, with most functionaries inside being killed in the firefight. After the Palace was secured, the New Republic used it as the residence of the Chief of State and maintained a large governmental presence in the building. Despite attempts to rename the building the Capitol or Republic House, or its former title of Presidential Palace, Imperial Palace remained its primary title.

After surviving several regime changes and millennium of use the palace was severely damaged during the fall of Coruscant during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy. While several levels were obliterated during the battle, the Galactic Alliance retook Coruscant and the Palace shortly after the end of the war and began the slow process of removing all remnants of the invaders on the uppermost levels of Coruscant's towers. Several decades later the Imperial Remnant, under the command of Emperor Roan Fel, retook the capital and reoccupied the Palace. Not long after the Imperial conquest, the reborn Sith Empire betrayed the Empire which had aligned with it and deposed Fel. As Darth Krayt took over the Empire, he used the Palace as his temporary throne as construction finished up on the nearby Temple of the Sith.

Text and facts from the “Imperial Palace/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.