The Palace of Fine Arts is a landmark series of structures in San Francisco originally built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition to house works for art. The main building is the iconic 135-foot domed rotunda, designed by architect Bernard Maybeck and now used for special events such as weddings.
This structure was replicated in Disney California Adventure as a scale version, originally serving as the entrance to the now-defunct attraction, Golden Dreams. Today, the Disney version of the rotunda still stands, though repainted, as the entrance to The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.
Though it wasn’t actually filmed here, the Palace of Fine Art’s infamous domed building was no doubt an inspiration for similar structures seen in Theed, the capital city of Naboo in the Star Wars franchise.

The grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts, including the rotunda (assuming no events are taking place), are open to the public daily. Check their event page for access to other buildings in the complex.
- This location is mentioned in our blog post: A Photo Tour of Lucasfilm’s San Francisco Headquarters
Address: 3601 Lyon St, San Francisco, CA 94123
Visitor Information: Palace of Fine Arts
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