The Pointe Vénus lighthouse (Teara o Tahiti or Tepaina venuti) is a lighthouse located in the commune of Mahina, in the far north of the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. It marks the north of the island and marks the bay of Matavai. It was the first lighthouse in the South Pacific.[1]
History
Pointe Venus Lighthouse between 1860 and 1879
Point Venus owes its name to the observatory that James Cook built in 1770 to observe the transit of Venus. This point was the landing place for many explorers such as Louis Antoine de Bougainville and Samuel Wallis. A lantern was first placed on the site in 1856, and the lighthouse was constructed in 1867.[2] It was lit for the first time on 1 January 1868.[3]
It was then equipped with a fixed white light, visible at 215 miles.
During the Second World War, it was camouflaged by the inhabitants who painted it with coconut palms with their palms and their nuts to remove any point of reference for a Japanese landing fleet.[2]
Current lighthouse
The lighthouse is a square tower of eight floors, built in rubble and coral to a height of 25 meters. It was raised 9 meters in 1953.[4]
The lighthouse is also used today for aerial navigation thanks to additional lenses for aerial beams.
Renovations to restore the lighthouse and install a new lighting system were announced in November 2023.[4]
