St. Michael's Cathedral, Rikitea
| St. Michael's Cathedral, Rikitea Cathédrale Saint-Michel, Rikitea (in French) |
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A white washed St. Michael's Cathedral on Mangareva island
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| Coordinates: 23°7′13″S 134°58′9″W / 23.12028°S 134.96917°W | |
| Country | French Polynesia |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Consecrated | |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Cathedral |
| Functional status | Active |
| Style | Neo Gothic |
| Groundbreaking | 17 January 1839 |
| Completed | 1848 |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete |
St. Michael's Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Michel, Rikitea) is a Roman Catholic church located on Mangareva Island in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia. It was built on the eastern side of Rikitea between 1839 and 1848 by missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It is in the neo-Gothic architectural style, constructed with burnt limestone, and decorated with mother of pearl.
The cathedral was built under the auspices of the Picpus Fathers by Father Cyprien Liausu, Superior of the Mission of Our Lady of Peace in the Gambiers, after he arrived in Rikitea in 1835.
Lay brothers Gilbert Soulié and Fabien Costes were responsible for the masonry work, assisted by fifteen native workers. Bishop Florentin-Étienne Jaussen visited in February 1849 and was sufficiently impressed that in April 1856 Soulié and sixty Mangareva workers travelled to Tahiti to work on Notre Dame Cathedral in Papeete. Ten years later, these same skilled workers constructed the beacon at Point Venus in Tahiti.
It was, and remains, the largest church in the South Pacific. The cathedral is very active, within the limitations of the smallness of the population of the island, and retains the religiosity of the 19th century; devotees congregate there on Sunday mornings and sing hymns.
The cornerstone for the cathedral was laid on 17 January 1839, and Bishop Étienne Jérôme Rouchouze blessed the site on 4 April 1839. The building measures 48 metres (157 ft) in length, is 18 metres (59 ft) wide, and rises to a height of 21 metres (69 ft). It can seat 1200 people, and is thrice the size of the cathedral at Papeete.
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