Built by Inigo Jones for James I from 1619, Banqueting House was the only major part of Whitehall Palace to survive a devastating fire in 1698. Jones's work was considered to be his masterpiece.
This is not the original banqueting house at Whitehall - that honour went a wooden structure built in 1581 by direction of Elizabeth I. That early structure was used as a kind of multi-function chamber for royal receptions and dining.