What is the method of loci (a "memory palace")?

A technique where you store things to remember as vivid images at an ordered series of familiar places, then mentally walk the route to recall them in order.

The steps in one breath: pick a place you know well → choose an ordered set of spots (loci) along a route through it → turn each item into a striking image and park it at a spot → to recall, take the mental walk and "read off" what you left at each place.

It converts an abstract list (which the brain forgets fast) into a journey through space (which the brain holds effortlessly). That single move — from list to place — is the whole trick.