Royal Palace of Uvea

Royal Palace of Uvea
Palais royal d'Uvea
Dancers in front of the royal palace during the territory festival on July 29, 2017.
Map
13°17′00″S 176°10′26″W / 13.28333°S 176.17389°W / -13.28333; -176.17389
LocationFrance
DesignerCharles Bonneval
TypePalace
Completion date1992

The Royal Palace of Uvea is the seat of the Lavelua, the customary king of Uvea, on the island of Wallis. It is located in Mata-Utu, the capital of the overseas territory of Wallis and Futuna.

Built in 1876, it is a highly important political site, where most official and traditional ceremonies take place.

Location

The palace stands in front of the Sagato Soane Square (French for Saint John), not far from the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption cathedral, in the heart of the village of Mata-Utu. The land on which it is built is called Mala'evaka.[1]

Celebrations

The royal palace hosts most official and traditional ceremonies, such as the enthronement of a new Lavelua,[2] the territorial feast day, the July 14th ceremony, and so on. During customary ceremonies such as the katoaga, the various territorial authorities (Lavelua and customary chiefs, bishop, senior administrator, etc.) are seated in front of the royal palace.

History

Construction

The Royal Palace (left) is very close to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption (right). In the middle, Sagato Soane Square.

Construction of the building began under the direction of French resident Jean-Joseph David and was completed during the reign of Amelia Tokagahau Aliki. Indeed, in 1876, Bishop Pierre Bataillon convinced the customary authorities to have the palace built thanks to village chores.[3] The aim of the palace was to:[4]

To give the great chieftaincy of Wallis the appearance of Western-style royalty, so that the officers of the European navies would recognize the Lavelua [...] as heads of state capable of signing trade or alliance treaties.

The work was entrusted to architect Charles Bonneval, who drew inspiration from Tongan architecture to build this royal residence. This was the first time a house was built on stilts in Wallis. Built of stone, the palace has one floor and a sunroom.[4]

The royal palace was rebuilt while Count Dodun de Kéroman was resident in France (1892-1893).[5][6]

Since its construction, the palace has undergone minor modernization.[7]

Court cases

The Wallisian population gathered in front of the royal palace of Uvea in 1900.

On two occasions, Lavelua Tomasi Kulimoetoke II opened the doors of the royal palace to relatives convicted by the French justice system, so that they could escape from the gendarmes:

  • In 1998, a legal-political affair implicated a high-ranking Wallisian woman, elected to the territorial assembly and close to Lavelua. She was accused of embezzlement and sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Nouméa court.[8] The Lavelua played an important role in this affair, taking the woman's side entirely and opening the doors of the royal palace to her, where the gendarmes coming to get her did not dare enter.[8]
  • In June 2005, a customary crisis erupted when the grandson of the Lavelua (in power for 46 years)[9] was convicted of manslaughter after killing a motorcyclist while driving drunk. The grandson took refuge in the Royal Palace of Uvea to protect himself from the police. This choice divides the aristocratic families, divided between customary support and loyalty to the French tutelary power. Two camps emerged: on the one hand, supporters of the king and, on the other, “renovators” who wanted to see custom evolve. For Frédéric Angleviel, the Kulimoetoke family, from which many members of the Grand Chieftaincy descended, refused to relinquish power after so many years.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Chave-Dartoen, Sophie (2017). "L'émergence des institutions contemporaines et les reconfigurations de la chefferie" [The emergence of contemporary institutions and the reconfiguration of chieftaincy]. Royauté, chefferie et monde socio-cosmique à Wallis ('Uvea): Dynamiques sociales et pérennité des institutions [Royalty, chieftaincy and socio-cosmic world in Wallis ('Uvea): Social dynamics and sustainability of institutions] (in French). Marseille: Pacific-credo publications. pp. 105–144. ISBN 978-2-9537485-6-7.
  2. ^ Lataste, René (2016). "Wallis Uvea: un deuxième Roi intronisé" [Wallis Uvea: a second King enthroned]. la1ere.francetvinfo.fr (in French). Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  3. ^ Angleviel, Frédéric (1994). Les missions à Wallis et Futuna au XIXe siècle [Missions to Wallis and Futuna in the 19th century] (in French). Presses Univ de Bordeaux. p. 158. ISBN 9782905081254.
  4. ^ a b Angleviel, Frédéric (2013). "Wallis-et-Futuna: L'alliance de la grande chefferie et de la croix dans la République" [Wallis and Futuna: The alliance of the great chieftaincy and the cross in the Republic]. Religion et société en Nouvelle-Calédonie et en Océanie [Religion and society in New Caledonia and Oceania] (in French). Clermont-Ferrand: Centre Michel de l'Hospital. p. 146. ISBN 978-2-912589-38-5.
  5. ^ Roux, Jean-Claude (1995). Wallis et Futuna: espaces et temps recomposés: chroniques d'une micro insularité [Wallis and Futuna: recomposed spaces and times: chronicles of a micro-insularity] (in French). Talence: Centre de recherche sur les espaces tropicaux. p. 61. ISBN 2-905081-29-5.
  6. ^ Poncet, Alexandre (2013). "Les dernières années du règne d'Amélia Lavelua (1890-1895)" [The last years of the reign of Amélia Lavelua (1890-1895)]. Le protectorat français [The French protectorate] (in French). Paris: Société des océanistes. pp. 27–34. ISBN 978-2-85430-094-9.
  7. ^ "Le saviez-vous ? L'histoire du palais royal de Wallis" [Did you know? The history of the royal palace of Wallis]. la1ere.francetvinfo.fr (in French). 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Douaire‑Marsaudon, Françoise (2018). "Droit coutumier et loi républicaine dans une collectivité d'outre‑mer française (Wallis‑et‑Futuna)" [Customary law and republican law in a French overseas community (Wallis and Futuna)]. Ethnologie française (in French). 48 (48): 81–92. doi:10.3917/ethn.181.0081.
  9. ^ Ternisien, Xavier (2007). "Tomasi Kulimoetoke, roi de Wallis" [Tomasi Kulimoetoke, King of Wallis]. Le Monde (in French). Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  10. ^ Angleviel, Frédéric (2007). "Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 - Wallis and Futuna". The Contemporary Pacific. 19 (1): 286–290. doi:10.1353/cp.2007.0000. Retrieved December 15, 2024.

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