The small whitewashed octagonal church on the western side of Moorea, in the village of Papetoai, is the oldest European building still in active use in the South Pacific. Built by Protestant missionaries in 1827 on the foundations of a previous chapel — and that on the site of a destroyed Tahitian temple complex — the church has eight equal walls, a low tiled roof and a simple wooden interior. Sunday morning services are conducted in Tahitian with hymn-singing of the kind that drew composers like Stravinsky to Polynesian music; visitors are welcome at the back. Outside service times the church is usually open for a quick look.
Papetoai Octagonal Church
A story
The London Missionary Society arrived in Moorea in 1817 and chose Papetoai as their base. Their first stone church on the site, built on the foundations of a major *marae* dedicated to the war god 'Oro, has been continuously in use since 1827 — making it the oldest European church still standing anywhere in the South Pacific.