Place des Cocotiers

Shady central square with colonial bandstand and flamboyant trees

Place des Cocotiers — Coconut Square — is the beating heart of central Nouméa, a rectangular shaded plaza that has served as the city's gathering point since it was laid out in the 1860s. Enormous flamboyant trees cast deep shade over the benches and paths, and the ornate Victorian bandstand in the centre still hosts free Sunday morning concerts.

The square is ringed by colonial buildings: the mairie (city hall), the former court, and a handful of cafes. It is most lively in the early morning when office workers cross on their way to work and vendors set up around the edges. In the evening it softens into a pleasant place to sit with a coffee or beer. The municipal market is a short walk away on the waterfront.

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The square takes its name from coconut palms that were planted when the city was founded in 1854. The palms are long gone, replaced by flamboyant trees, but the colonial bandstand at the centre still hosts free concerts on Sunday mornings — a tradition that has continued unbroken for over a century.