The most beautiful religious buildings Grande Terre

It was a convict who drew the plans for this cathedral, built in 1888 on the heights. If you look up at the façade, you will see a two-meter statue of Notre-Dame-des-Flots, donated by the sailors of the Caledonian Merchant Navy. The two 25-meter towers are equipped with two-meter diameter clocks and were not yet completed at the time of its consecration in June 1894. Once inside, it is necessary to examine the large fonts inserted in the narthex. Don't miss the nickel leaf chandelier on the ceiling.

The mission, initially installed on the seashore, was transferred here and named Saint-Louis in honor of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. To the left of the church, a small path leads to a bridge over the Ti. If you go by car, take the road on the right. Just after the bridge, at the crow's feet, follow the right track. After a small hill and once at the fork, continue on the left track passing under a high voltage line. The place is very quiet and solemn, with a beautiful view of the plain and the lagoon.

Dominated by its square bell tower, the Church of the Conception was built in 1874 on the site where a Marist mission was established. The religious worked on a coffee plantation. Every year in August, a pilgrimage is organized on foot from Noumea. The 2.80 m high statue of the Virgin Mary is a copy of Notre-Dame-de-Fourvière in Lyon. The stained glass windows in the choir recount the events that took place in Balade. In 1843, the ship Bucéphale landed missionaries who survived as best they could.

8 km after the beginning of the river, after passing the tribe of Poindjap, you will discover two burned and rusted trucks that recall the attack and assassination of ten Kanak militants on December 5, 1984. On the stele is inscribed: "Son of Kanaky, remember...". Two of Tjibaou's brothers fell in the ambush and seven people escaped. On this place of pilgrimage and recollection for the Kanaks and the independentists, the carcasses of Peugeot 404 are regularly covered with banners, pieces of cloth and flowers.