Hotel de Ville - Nouméa, New Caledonia
Posted by: 
waiiti20
S 22° 16.231 E 166° 26.540
58K E 648606 N 7536521
Hotel de Ville in Centre Ville, Nouméa, now a museum.
Waymark Code: WMP715
Location: New Caledonia
Date Posted: 07/11/2015
Views: 6
This is a modest museum but it’s easy to follow and visitors are provided with an excellent audio guide in English (at no charge), which takes you through the various stages of New Caledonia’s development from the time of the French colonisation in 1853 to the present.
The building itself has a history, being initially built as a bank – which went bust after a few years and then serving as the Town Hall.
There are three levels of displays: the basement (previously the bank vault), the ground level and the first level. But none are too extensive and you won’t get overwhelmed here, although you should allow about two hours to cover it all.
A lot of the exhibits are concerned with the WWI and WWII periods and the involvement of men from New Caledonia - indigenous and non indigenous. Sadly, even though many of the Kanaks considered themselves as patriotic Frenchmen and fought for France in the wars, they received scant reward or recognition for their efforts, not even French citizenship.
There are photo displays from the early 20th century and at the top level is a scale model of Noumea from that period.
The museum has toilets in the basement, but no shop or cafe. However, it’s conveniently located just off the Place des Cocotiers, where you can enjoy an outdoors lunch afterwards (byo sandwiches, of course).
Year photo was taken: 1940
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