living heritage
Avarua CICC — Ziona Tapu
Coral-stone walls and a green roof tell a story of faith and island building skills.
The story behind the place
Avarua's Cook Islands Christian Church is known as Ziona Tapu, or Holy Zion. Built farther inland in 1853 after an earlier coastal church was lost to a cyclone, it has thick coral-stone walls and strong buttresses. The Gothic-shaped windows bring light into a modest building shaped by local materials and craftsmanship. The congregation's story links Polynesian missionaries, Rarotongan communities and later generations who repaired and renewed the church. Its plain square tower remains a familiar Avarua landmark.
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Read more from the sources
- Avarua Cook Islands Christian Church — Cook Islands TourismCook Islands Tourism
