Piula Cave Pool (also known as Fatumea Pool) is a natural freshwater pool by the sea beneath the historic

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Chapel at Piula on the north coast of

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approxi ...

island in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. It is situated at Lufilufi in the political district of

Atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori or the Hawaiians (see also ); the Polynesian word literally means "power" or "strength" and so the concept is similar to that of '' mana''. Today, it is also used for ...

, 26 km east from the capital

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

, along the scenic coastal road. Entry is by the main road through the painted stone wall of

Piula Theological College Piula Theological College is a Methodist training institution in Samoa. It was established in 1868 in Lufilufi on the north coast of Upolu island after its initial beginnings in 1859 at Satupa'itea on the south coast of Savai'i island. The Met ...

with steps leading down to the pool. A popular swimming hole for locals and visitors, the pool is formed by a natural spring flowing out of a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

and out to sea. Inside the main cave opening on the north side is a short submerged tunnel leading to a smaller cave opening on the east side of the pool. It is open Mondays to Saturdays and there are small ''fale'' and changing rooms for visitors. The monastery charges a small visitor's fee. Freshwater pools are fairly common around the coastlines of Savai'i and

islands which were formed from

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plat ...

activity. Cooling lava flows from volcanic eruptions resulted in lava-tunnels that have become conduits for water.

History

The Methodist Mission in Samoa purchased the land for a training institution at Lufilufi in 1868 and named it Piula Theological College. The name ''Piula'' is a

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

of the

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

name ''Beulah.

References

Tourism in Samoa Bodies of water of Samoa Natural pools Atua (district) Bodies of water of Oceania {{Samoa-geo-stub

History

See also

References