Tautira is a

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n beach

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

, valley, and point on the south-east coast of the island of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. It is part of the commune

Taiarapu-Est Ta'iarapu-Est (literally "Tai'arapu East") is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Tai'arapu-Est is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windwar ...

. With a population of 2338 (in 2007), it is located 49 kilometres southeast of the Tahitian capital of Papeete on the coast of

Tautira Bay Tautira Bay (alternate: Cooks Anchorage) (lat 17°45' S, long. 149° 10' W) is located on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. It is part of the commune Taiarapu-Est Ta'iarapu-Est (literally "Tai'arapu East") is a commune of French Poly ...

, at the end of what is the largest valley of the Taiarapu Peninsula. Domingo de Bonechea visited the area in 1772 and attempted to spread Christianity here; James Cook landed at

during his voyage.

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

referred to the village as “The Garden of the World”, staying here to recover from illness in 1886. The village contains a Catholic church.

History

Tautira is where Catholic missionaries first landed which eventually led to the takeover of Tahiti by the French people, and which also ended Protestants hold on Tahiti: In 1773 the Spaniards established a catholic mission, of two friars, in the bay of Tautira, which was abandoned at eleven months. Earlier, in 1772, Domingo de Bonechea, the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

captain landed at

Aguilla {{Short pages monitor