Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Papeete
In the heart of Papeete is the cathedral of Notre-Dame, consecrated to the Immaculate Conception: the oldest Catholic church in Tahiti and one of the last witnesses of the colonial architecture of the city. Its construction, started in 1856, culminated in the consecration of the temple on December 23, 1875, and since 1966 it has been the seat of the archdiocese of Papeete.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- Nació del empeño de monseñor Étienne ‘Tepano’ Jaussen, primer obispo católico de Tahití, y fue levantada en buena parte por medio centenar de artesanos llegados de Mangareva, en las islas Gambier, que tallaron incluso sus portales en su propia isla durante los años en que la obra estuvo detenida.
- His three bells were blessed on December 19, 1875, four days before the opening, and bear their own name: Marie Charlotte, Emilie Octavie and Anne Martin.
- He has been a faithful witness to the history of Papeete: he resisted the tsunami of 1906, the bombing of the city by German cruises on 22 September 1914 and the cyclones of 1983, and in 2005 he recovered with his restoration the original yellow color.
- Its interior unites Europe and Polynesia: boiseries of the Mangarean artisans, via Yves de Saint-Front (1971) and windows of the façade (1967) and Deanna de Marigny (1989). Its bell tower reaches 39 meters and the temple welcomes about four hundred faithful; at its doors is the zero kilometric point from which the distances of the entire island are measured.
Immaculate Conception
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Papeete, consecrated in 1875 and its archdiocesan seat since 1966, is the oldest church in Tahiti. Golden stone, mangarevian hands and polynesia faith at the service of the Immaculate Mother, at the zero point of the island.
"Immaculate Mother of God, Star of the Sea of Polynesia, guide your children of Tahiti.
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