Monument de Balade

mperdeck (Atlas Obscura User)

This monument was erected in 1913 to mark 60 years since the French violently took possession of New Caledonia in 1853. Erected with much fanfare, the large pyramid-shaped monument sits atop a stone base on top of a small hill.

Today, more than a hundred years later, the monument has fallen into obscurity. An overgrown path leads to the monument and the area where the monument sits is also overgrown with knee-high grasses. Today, few visit the area.

Located on the far northeastern corner of Grande Terre, the largest island of New Caledonia, a few miles from the village of Balade along the RPN7 main road. The monument is easy to reach, as long as you know where to look.

Adding to the difficulty of finding this monument is (1) it is not shown in Google Maps and (2) the sign at the nearby road marking the spot is easy to miss, because it is small and nearly overgrown.

Know Before You Go

The monument can be found at: -20.297345, 164.474412

It is located along the RPN7, just north of the road, about 2 miles (3 km) west of the Balade church, and about a third of a mile (600 meters) west of the turnoff to Maamaat beach. Search maps for "Maamaat". In maps, look for a small trail west of the Maamaat beach turnoff shaped like a circle. The monument is in the middle of that circle.