History and Culture of Fiji

Levuka, The Old Capital

Just a short trip takes you back a long way in time. Levuka, the romantic old capital on the island of Ovalau, has maintained its old-world charm and remained virtually unchanged since the turn of the century. Levuka is now the last bastion of the old Pacific where time has stood still and the ghosts of yesteryears sing their songs.

There was a time in the 1840s when certain towns in the South Pacific were known for the wildlife of their inhabitants – Papeete in Tahiti, Nuku’alofa in Tonga, and Lahaina in Hawaii. Rusell in the bay of Islands, New Zealand, and Levuka in Fiji. These were the favorite haunts of beachcombers, whalers, blackbirders, adventurers, runaway convicts, and speculators of all kinds. They were places for the quick and the dead. All of them have since been overcome by civilization and progress which has seen the quaintness of the original buildings and the resonance of the past give away to new developments… all except Levuka.

Levuka owes its unique status to an accident in history. Its original settlement by European beachcombers at the turn of the century in 1800 depended on its central location between the major islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. It was also in close proximity to the dominant political power of the island of Bau, where the principal chief, Ratu Seru Cakobau, encouraged European settlement.

But its main advantage lay in the ability of sailings ships to enter and leave port easily, on account of Levuka’s position relative to the prevailing trade winds. By the 1840s Levuka was the de facto capital of Fiji. It was the center of trade and political intrigue with a growing European population. Beache de mer ships would enter and leave Fiji through its port, trade ships on turtle and pearl shells, coconut oil, corn, tea and coffee, trochus shell, pearl buttons, and cotton which boomed during the American civil war of the 1860s and copra which were being cultivated by settlers.

The possibility of British annexation in the 1850s attracted more settlers bringing with them a degree of respectability to Levuka to offset its wild debaucheries. Many were to leave, Britain declined to accept cession and Levuka continued its wild brawling ways.  It was not until 1874 when Fiji became a British Colony that Levuka became respectable and peace prevailed. The Deed of cession was signed by leading Fijian Chiefs at Nasova. Levuka became the official capital of the new colony.

Levuka thrived but this was also it’s undoing. Confined to a narrow coastal strip offering no room for expansion, it proved unsuitable to remain as the capital and the administration moved to Suva on the main island of Viti Levu.  Thus the shops, schools, churches, and residences left behind when the Government moved, have remained largely unchanged and Beach Street is as quaint today as it was a century ago.

Six ‘Must See’ Points of Interest: Guided tours around Levuka will allow you to meet local people in their homes for tea and talenoa sessions (old and new stories of the town)

1. Nasova, the residence of Fiji’s first governor, Sir Arthur Gordon
2. The Wharves and tuna cannery, the lifeblood of Levuka’s economy
3. Beach Street begins at the cannery, sweeping in an arc of the turn-of-the-century shopfronts with residences perched on the terraces above them. A stroll down Beach Street also takes you into narrow side streets which lead to historic sites – the Ovalau Club, the Municipal Chambers, Levuka public school, and the Royal Hotel.
4. The Morris Hedstrom Building (now a museum)
5. The War Memorial – the site of Fiji’s procession parliament
6. Levuka Village which is part of the town.