The grand palace located in the Dune Sea desert of Tatooine was the infamous home of the
crime lord Jabba the Hutt for centuries until he was killed by Leia Organa.
The castle soon fell into the hands of Bib Fortuna who ruled as
the successor crime lord for a few years, before he
was murdered by Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, who took the palace for themselves.
Although best known for being a crime haven, the palace was originally built as a monastery
for the B'omarr Order; a religious sect that
sought enlightenment through extreme isolation, with the
most devoted members having their brains surgically removed from their bodies and placed
within nutrition-filled jars.
These jars were either kept within the palace’s deep catacombs or
attached to droid walkers, allowing the bodiless monks to move about.
When Jabba and his cronies took control of the palace, the B'omarr Order was allowed
to continue their religious practices under the
rule of the Hutt crime lord, who found their disturbing
rituals amusing.
He also sometimes had his enemies’ made examples of by having their brains
removed by the B’omarr monks, with them later being kept alive as prisoners within
the catacombs among the other living jars.
On the near outskirts of the palace were sentry towers and weather beacons, which alerted
the occupiers of the main building of incoming
sandstorms.
The tallest point was the communications tower, which also contained a surveillance room.
The second, smaller tower contained a holographic
map projector and observation deck.
Underneath the second tower were the power generators, with the B’omarr Order’s brain
jar catacombs only a staircase down from that
point.
The main entrance led the way into the lobby of the central dome of the palace, with the
throne room being multiple levels underneath, requiring
a journey through numerous staircases and hallways, which resembled underground ant
tunnels.
Of course, walking to the throne room was only for the plebs, as Jabba the Hutt had
elevators installed for his excellency to traverse the
grand palace with ease; with them traveling to his private chambers located near the throne
room, or to his sail barge hanger which was on the other side of the palace.
Underneath the throne room was the Rancor Pit.
A couple hallways down from it was the kitchen, guard living quarters, dungeon cells,
and boiler room where droids were either reprogramed or turned into scrap metal.
This underground labyrinth still contained some
decorative elements of the B’omarr Order, as well as tunnels of varying sizes spreading
across the halls which had been dug either by thieves
or sand worms.
Near the main throne room was an area for esteemed guests to relax and feast in.
This same underground complex also contained a spice
mine, the B’omarr lecture hall, and an abandoned chamber which contained precious gems of the
religious order.
Back to the main dome of the palace, the middle level of it was used primarily by the B’omarr
monks for medication practices and ceremonial rituals.
The upper levels of the central dome
contained a room dedicated for genetically grown treats for Jabba.
Aside from that, most of the upper levels were dedicated for maintenance
purposes and defensive measures, with various weapon emplacements attached on the outer
rings of the dome.
On the rear side of the palace, was the main hangar, which was underground.
Kept there among Jabba’s personal sail barge, were
animal pens and workshops.
Near the hanger’s entrance, was a scrap yard which accumulated all the junk that no
longer was needed within the palace.
This scrap yard was heaven for the Jawa inhabitants of Tatooine,
with many coming into Jabba’s service and working the technical jobs required within
his palace.
Overall, the Palace was almost a mini city with the amount of maintenance it required.
Despite its majestic hallways and chambers on its
main levels, the true power lay deep underneath; where Jabba felt more comfortable and secure
from potential outside attackers.