Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster.
This fort is situated between La Foa and Bourail, 124 kilometers north of Nouméa.
In 1871 a group of 25 convicts, 2 wardens, 3 gendarmes and the head of the topographical department set up a camp on the left bank of La Foa river near the Kanak village of Uarai, later that year the camp was moved to a better site on the right bank of the river on a little hill.
This small camp was enlarged between 1871 and 1877 through the construction of several buildings: water tanks, cells, huts for military troops and for the convicts, the commander’s house, a chapel, some workshops and warehouses, a school, a bakery, an infirmary, a telegraph station, an anchorage etc..
The fort was built after the Kanak insurrection of 1878. Inside the perimeter of the walls were built a blockhouse, a watchtower and a prison. The number of the convicts was between 120 and 300, some of them worked at the farm penitentiary of Fonwhary, situated 8 kilometers away on a fertile and well irrigated land.
The settlement of Teremba was damaged by a cyclone in 1898.
In 1984 the Association Marguerite attempted to make Teremba a place of living memory. In 1989 the site was classified as historical monument. In 1992 the first buildings were restored. The site has actually a little museum and it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 AM to 4 PM, admission fee: 250 CFP.
