Roadside Shrine at Puhoi. Northland. New Zealand.
S 36° 30.910 E 174° 39.830
60H E 290807 N 5956371
A small traditional wooden shrine on the road side approaching the Bohemian village of Puhoi may possibly be NZ's only wayside shrine.
Waymark Code: WMAQ1E
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 02/09/2011
Views: 19
On your right as you drive into the small village of Puhoi, a settlement created by Bohemian immigrants who came to New Zealand from the 1860's, you will pass a simple wooden wayside shrine, erected in 1953 as part of Puhoi 90th celebrations.
Puhoi (pronounced POOHOY) is a Maori word meaning “Slow Water”.
Puhoi’s population a century ago peaked at a little over 500, which is more than at present.
Originally the Puhoi Bohemians were almost totally isolated as the tidal estuary of the Puhoi River was the only access to the settlement. Today State Highway 1 is just a few kms away and although the village is only 50 kms north of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, it has retained much of it’s heritage character with quaint traditional houses and what is possibly the only wayside shrine in New Zealand.
The Puhoi pioneers brought the Catholic faith with them from Bohemia, and it was very important to them in their struggles in those early years of hardship. When people asked how they survived, and achieved success they invariably responded "We had the faith, and we helped each other". Cardinal SCHWARZENBURG had urged them to keep their faith in the land of their adoption, and upon arriving in Puhoi, a room in one of the two nikau whares was set aside as a chapel. It was eighteen months before a Priest was able to come and say mass for them. The pioneers said the Rosary together and prayed in their families.
The village Church of Saints Peter and Paul was blessed and opened on 10 August, 1881 and was so named because the pioneers arrived on the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul. The altar painting was commissioned by the people of Puhoi from an artist in Bohemia, van HERZOG, and is an exact copy of the one in Littitz church in Bohemia.
This little roadside shrine erected in 1953 has become one of the icons of this unique village of Puhoi.
Year of creation: 1953/1/1
Material: wood
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Visit Instructions:
Post at least one (own made) photograph of this wayside shrine.