Travel Guide Rikitea

Located 1,590 km southeast of Tahiti, Mangareva is the largest and most central of the Gambier Islands. A small, peaceful town surrounded by vegetation, its village of Rikitea lives to the rhythm of the harvest and fishing, in the shadow of the island's two highest points, Mount Duff (441 m) and Mount Mokoto (423 m). On its heights stands the imposing Saint-Michel cathedral, capable of accommodating 2,000 worshippers and erected on the old marae demolished for the occasion. Eight years of work and considerable human effort were devoted to the construction of this 54-meter long building, decorated with mother-of-pearl and woodwork, and topped by two blue towers that are a bit pretentious. The cursed pride of Rikitea, it symbolizes in a way the imperialism of the Catholic religion in Polynesia.