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LEVUKA - THEN & NOW |
Once upon
a time.....
Settlement on Ovalau Island dates back some 4000 years.
Levuka first came to prominence in Fiji and indeed in
the whole of the South Pacific from the early 1800s. It
became a place of early settlement for numerous and
diverse people - foreign traders, merchants,
missionaries, shipwrights, vagabonds, shipwrecked
sailors, respected businessmen and speculators alike.
1871 saw Ratu Seru Cakobau, the paramount warrior chief,
proclaimed "king" of Fiji and a national government was
formed in Levuka. His government faced many problems and
was far from well received. These, combined with
questionable financial claims from the American Consul
and attempts by the Tongan chief Ma'afu to take over the
eastern islands of Fiji, led to Cakobau and twelve other
prominent chiefs to cede Fiji to the United Kingdom on
10 October, 1874. Sir Hercules Robinson, Governor of New
South Wales, acting as personal representative of Queen
Victoria, received Fiji as a Protectorate and Colony in
a ceremony which is still re-enacted in October each
year, on the same site at Nasova, at the southern end of
town.
Naturally,
because Levuka was the first colonial settlement, there
are many 'firsts' here - the first bank, post office,
public school, private members club, Masonic lodge,
municipality, hospital, town hall, Wesleyan, Methodist,
and Anglican churches, to name a few. Levuka was also
the place where the first public electricity system was
begun in Fiji in 1927 - the electricity was switched on
three days before that of the modern capital, Suva.
The traditional village of Levuka can be found at the
northern end of town. The current chief is a direct
ancestor of the chief who first befriended early
European settlers. Even to this day, the "Tui Levuka" is
still referred to as "Tamana na vavalagi" (father of
Europeans).
Levuka in the 21st century.....
Even today the town retains many of its pre-colonial and
immediately post-colonial buildings, and is considered
the most intact remaining example of colonial influence
and life-style in the South Pacific. It is this,
together with the very relaxed life-style and
friendliness of the locals that now attracts people from
all over the world to visit this interesting and very
photogenic town.
For
more information:
levukahomestay@connect.com.fj
(+679)
3440777,
Box 50, Levuka, Ovalau, Fiji Islands
