Lausikula Chapel

The chapel of Saint Bernadette at Pointe Lausikula is one of the most recognisable sights on Wallis: it stands entirely alone at the water's edge on the southwest coast, in Mu'a district, at the foot of a low cliff with the lagoon in front of it. A natural grotto in the cliff held a statue of Saint Bernadette in a small oratory before the present building existed. After Cyclone Evan damaged the site in 2012, a much larger chapel was built and blessed in September 2014, and the territory's own tourism office ranks it alongside the Poi basilica on Futuna among the islands' church landmarks.

What you actually see

• The chapel at the water - a church standing alone on the shoreline.
• The grotto - the cliff hollow where the statue stood first.
• The 2014 building - the larger chapel raised after the cyclone.
• The lagoon setting - the water and reef directly in front.

When to go

May to October is the drier season. Late afternoon light on the white building is the best of it. Services take precedence over visits.

Honest expectations

It is a working chapel, not a monument, and visits should defer to anyone using it. There are no facilities at the point. The visit itself is short - the setting is the substance.

Nearby

Mu'a district is around it, and Mata-Utu is north along the coast.