Masonic Lodge Ruins

Ovalau & the Lomaiviti Group


This stone shell was the South Pacific’s first Masonic lodge (1875). This was once Levuka’s only Romanesque building, but it was burnt to a husk in the 2000 coup by God-fearing villagers. Local Methodists had long alleged that Masons were in league with the devil and that tunnels led from beneath the lodge to Nasova House, the Royal Hotel and through the centre of the world to Masonic headquarters in Scotland. This turned out not to be the case.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Ovalau & the Lomaiviti Group attractions

1. Former Town Hall

0.02 MILES

The former town hall (1901) is built in typical British colonial style (although not to celebrate Queen Victoria’s silver jubilee as is commonly thought),…

2. Old Police Station

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The little weatherboard building on the corner of Garner Jones Rd and Totoga Lane was Levuka’s original police station (1874)

3. Sacred Heart Church

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Sacred Heart Church dates from 1858. The clock strikes each hour twice, with a minute in between. Locals say the first strike is an alarm to warn people…

4. Marist Convent School

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The Marist Convent School (1882) was a girls school opened by Catholic missionaries and run by nuns, but is now a lively co-ed primary school. It was…

5. Navoka Methodist Church

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In the cemetery next to the village’s Methodist Church is the grave of former American consul John Brown Williams. It was his claim for financial…

6. 199 Steps of Mission Hill

0.18 MILES

There are many old colonial homes on Levuka's hillsides, and the romantically named 199 Steps of Mission Hill are worth climbing for the fantastic view –…

8. Levuka Museum

0.27 MILES

Fiji Museum offers a fascinating, if chaotically organised, glimpse of old Levuka, through its wonderfully atmospheric displays.