Levuka: Difference between revisions

| designation1_free1name = State PartyRegion

| designation1_free1value = Fiji[[List of World Heritage Sites in Oceania|Asia and the Pacific]]

'''Levuka''' ({{IPA-fj|leβuka}}) is a [[Local government in Fiji|town]] on the eastern coast of the Fijian island of [[Ovalau (Fiji)|Ovalau]], in [[Lomaiviti Province]], in the [[Eastern Division, Fiji|Eastern Division]] of Fiji. ItPrior wasto formerly1877, it was the capital of Fiji. At the census in 2007, the last to date, Levuka town had a population of 1,131 (plus 3,266 living in the peri-urban area as defined by the Bureau of Statistics), about half of Ovalau's 8,360 inhabitants. It is the economic hub and the largest of 24 settlements on the island. Having been nominated decades prior, Levuka was designated a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in June 2013, in recognition of the port town's exceptional testimony to the late colonial port towns in the Pacific.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1399 |title=Levuka Historical Port Town – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher= United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |date=22 June 2013 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref>

During the mid 19th-century, the town was quickly becoming a commercial hub for the sea cucumber trade.<ref name = "icomos">{{cite report |title = Levuka Historical Port Town (Fiji): No. 1399 |date = 6 March 2013 |publisher = International Council on Monuments and Sites |url = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1399/documents/ |access-date = 19 September 2021}}</ref> [[Society of Mary (Marists)|Marist]] priests, led by Father {{ill|Jean-Baptiste Bréhéret|fr}}, established a mission in Levuka in 1858, and [[Wesleyan]] missions were built around the same time.<ref name = "icomos"/> The [[Sacred Heart Church, Levuka|Sacred Heart Church]], Marist Convent School, and two Methodist churches still survive today.<ref name = "icomos"/> By 1870, the town had a population of more than 2000.<ref name = "icomos"/> When the first modern nation state of Fiji, the [[Kingdom of Fiji]], was founded in 1871, [[Seru Epenisa Cakobau]] was [[coronation|crowned]] [[Head of StateKing of Fiji|King]] at Levuka. After Fiji was annexed as a British [[British Empire|colony]] in 1874, Levuka remained the capital until 1877, when the administration was moved to [[Suva]], although the move was not made official until 1882. The move was prompted by concerns that the 600-meter high hills, many with cliffs, surrounding Levuka gave it no room for expansion.<ref name="im">{{citationcite magazine |last=Schurman |first=Dewey needed|date=June 1994 |title=Fiji: A Tale of Two Islands |volume=14 |issue=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIzzsiPGPwsC&pg=PA104 |magazine=Islands Magazine |access-date=23 July 20172023 |pages=104–113}}</ref>

Levuka is famous for many of Fiji's "firsts".<ref name="im"/> It was the site of Fiji's first bank,<ref name="im"/> post office, school, private members club, hospital, town hall, and municipal government.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Fiji's first newspaper,<ref name="im"/> the ''[[Fiji Times]]'', which is still in operation today, was founded in Levuka in 1869. Levuka's [[Royal Hotel, Levuka|Royal Hotel]] is the oldest hotel<ref name="im"/> in the South Pacific still operating. Historians have not ascertained its exact age, but records show that it was in existence by the early 1860s.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} [[Levuka Public School]], opened in 1879, was the first public school in Fiji<ref name="im"/> and many of Fiji's leaders in the years leading up to and following independence in 1970 were educated there. The oldest [[Freemasons|Masonic lodge]] in the South Pacific, [[Lodge Polynesia 562 SC]], is also to be found in Levuka. It was established in 1875. Levuka was also the site of Fiji's first public electricity system, which began in 1927, three days before the capital Suva was electrified.{{citation needed|date = July 2017}}

Much of Levuka's unique heritage is in its wooden architecture which is highly vulnerable to fire.<ref name = "icomos"/> The Masonic Lodge, Levuka's only Romanesque-revival building<ref>Lilley, Ian (2006) Archaeology of Oceania : Australia and the Pacific Islands. Blackwell, Malden, MA</ref> was set on fire during the period of lawlessness and unrest following Fiji's 2000 coup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=106217|title=Fire warning - Fiji Times Online|date=4 October 2013|access-date=7 July 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004233625/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=106217|archive-date=4 October 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> There is much controversy about the Masonic fraternity in Fiji, the dominant traditional Christian faiths consider Masons to be devil-worshipersworshippers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://davidlansing.com/satanic-rituals-at-the-masonic-lodge |title=Satanic rituals at the Masonic Lodge |publisher=Davidlansing.com |date=11 March 2014 |access-date=24 April 2015}}</ref> The Lodge contained priceless historical artefacts and records of Levuka's history dating back to 1875.<ref>Patterson, R.T. (1975) The history of Lodge Polynesia no. 562 S.C. Levuka, Fiji</ref> The arsonists have yet to be identified and prosecuted.{{citation needed|date = July 2017}}

==Notable residentspeople==

*[[Eileen Cikamatana]] - weightlifter who a gold medal for Fiji in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fijivillage.com/news/Cikamatana--granted-Australian-citizenship-and-to-represent-Austraila-29rs5k/|title = Cikamatana granted Australian citizenship and to represent Austraila}}</ref>