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. LevukaHaving andbeen thenominated islanddecades ofprior, OvalauLevuka hadwas beendesignated seeking recognition froma [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]] forin decadesJune 2013, finallyin beingrecognition designatedof the port town's exceptional testimony to the late colonial port towns in Junethe 2013Pacific.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web|author= |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1399 |title=Levuka Historical Port Town – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Whc.unesco.org United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |date=22 June 2013 |accessdateaccess-date=2419 AprilSeptember 20152021}}</ref>

The modern town of Levuka was founded around 1820 by European settlers and traders as the first modern town in the Fiji Islands, and became an important port and trading post. A disparate band of settlers made up Levuka's population – traders, missionaries, [[shipwright]]s, speculators, and vagabonds, as well as respectable businessmen. The [[US Exploring Expedition]] visited in 1840.<ref name=Stanton>{{cite book|last1=Stanton|first1=William|title=The Great United States Exploring Expedition|date=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0520025571|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/190 190]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/190}}</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|accessdateaccess-date=7 July 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004233625/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=106217|archivedatearchive-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 |accessdateaccess-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}}

[[File:Pafco Fire Cold Storage Plant.jpg|thumb|Fire destroys Pafco's Freezer Plant]]In 2008, Levuka's PAFCO Cold Storage Plant which was located next the town's main road was destroyed by a fire caused during welding maintenance works. In more recent years, the old Mavida Guest house and the old General Store on Levuka's main street have also burnt down. The General Store Building housed the Westpac Bank, Air Fiji and a Supermarket and, being over 100 years old, was part of the then proposed (now established) UNESCO National Heritage Site. Rumors of arson abound in relation to the fires but no prosecutions have been made. In April 2010, Levuka's Chief Fire Authority Officer was quoted in the national paper as saying that Levuka is: ‘...a fire hazard waiting to happen...’, he points out in the article that there are no fire hydrants in the town and that virtually no buildings have fire extinguishers or fire alarm systems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=144807 |title=Levuka hazard – Fiji Times Online |publisher=Fijitimes.com |date=20 April 2010 |accessdateaccess-date=24 April 2015}}</ref>

==Notable residentspeople==