Things to do in Wallis & Futuna

1. Pierre Chanel Church

   • Wallis & Futuna
   • Sights › Religious, spiritual

   Near the quiet villages northwest of Futuna's airport is the famous, towering Pierre Chanel church (called Petelo Sanele in Futunan). The exterior is in need of a new coat of paint, but the interior, which has enough pews to seat several hundred worshippers, is painstakingly decorated throughout with white and brown tapa.

   The chapel includes relics of the saint, killed in 1841 and declared the patron saint of Oceania in 1954, including some of his clothes and the war club said to have dispatched him. There is a large wooden statue of Chanel that welcomes you at the door.

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2. Talietumu

   • Wallis & Futuna
   • Sights › Fortress

   Talietumu is a huge and beautifully restored archaeological site, a one-time fortified Tongan settlement dating from around AD 1450. A wide defensive wall with entrance passages surrounds tree-dotted lawns and a number of other structures, including large platforms and a circular stockade base.

   The stone paved roads in and around the site were used only by the king, whose feet were not allowed to touch the ground.

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3. Lake Lalolalo

   • Wallis & Futuna
   • Sights › Lake

   Lake Lalolalo is the most spectacular of the Wallis crater lakes. The eerie lake is an almost perfect circle with sheer rocky cliffs falling 30m (98ft) down to the inky, 80m (262ft) deep waters.

   Tropical birds are often seen gliding effortlessly across the surface and it is tabu to clear the jungle here, making this some of the best preserved primary forest on the island.

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