Monuments to visit Noumea

In the blue-roofed halls overlooking the marina of Port Moselle, the archipelago's largest marina, flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, meat (deer sausage!), pastries and souvenirs are displayed. While tourists and locals mingle every day, the market is a big hit on weekends! You can have breakfast at the kiosk inside the halls. You can go there from 6am to have your coffee or to find a snack to take away for lunch. Be careful, Caledonians are early risers and from 11am the stalls are empty.

Lucien Bernheim, a mining owner, donated money to the colonial administration in 1901 for the construction of a library. Built on the colonial model of the time, in the image of the pavilions of the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, the building is one of the most eloquent architectural testimonies of Nouméa. Within its walls are grouped 700,000 volumes, a large part of which deals with New Caledonia and the Pacific. Researchers also have at their disposal the collection of all the public newspapers of the territory.

This monument, erected in 1992, commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the first 20,000 American soldiers in Nouméa on March 12, 1942. Nearly a million of their compatriots followed them and transited on the Rock, so that New Caledonia constituted one of the strategic bases of the American army during the Pacific War against Japan, particularly during the Battle of the Coral Sea. It can be found near the market and Port-Moselle. A solemn pause during your visit, but unfortunately not very well highlighted.

The house of the Célières family was built in 1898 and is a good example of the colonial architecture of the time. After years of restoration work, it opened to the public in 2009. You can visit the many rooms where the period furniture has been preserved, as well as the garden and the terrace overlooking Mount Coffyn. Events are regularly organized there, mostly related to literature, as it is also the seat of the Maison du Livre.

James Paddon settled on Nou Island in 1851 and established the first commercial infrastructure in New Caledonia. France, wishing to regain control of the site in order to build a penal colony, offered him to exchange his property for large tracts of land located in the commune of Païta. Paddon accepted and finally died in 1861. In 1863, construction of the prison buildings began. The first prisoners disembarked aboard the Iphigénie in 1864 at Port-de-France, which was renamed Nouméa in 1866. Numerous buildings scattered all over the peninsula still bear witness to this penitentiary past.

Visit. After crossing the sea, leave the city behind and connect to the island by the dike (built in 1972), follow the road on the left that leads to the old penitentiary. Ironically, or simply for historical purposes, the prison only disappeared to make way for the East Camp prison, the country's main detention center. During your visit, you will see one architectural testimony after another. If you follow James Cook Avenue westwards, once you have passed the University of New Caledonia, you will see the former house of the prison director on the sea side. Not far away, you will discover the nicely restored prison workshop. You then pass in front of the chapel, built in 1882. A little further on you will find the convicts' dormitories and their alley, nicknamed the Boulevard of Crime. It was at the end of this alley that the scaffold was erected for the capital executions. The only guillotine in the territory, it was moved around the Caillou as needed and was used for all criminals. Higher up, the dwellings of the military supervisors still seem to watch over the site. Continue to the cathedral, built in 1875 but never consecrated. Once used as a prison administration warehouse, it has been home to the superb Théâtre de l'île since 1972, which has made full use of this past with a remarkable enhancement. The road bends to the left and leads to the ruins of the garden warden's house, located just a few steps from a flamboyant tree. Further on stands the old hospital of the Marais, built in 1870 and whose portal was only completed in 1885. It is now a specialized hospital. Before arriving there, take the small road to reach the convicts' cells.The visit is truly fascinating!