City Features
Mulinu'u, the old ceremonial capital, lies at the city's western end, and is the location of the Parliament House (Maota Fono) and the historic observatory, which is now the meteorology office.
The name of the Catholic Cathedral in Apia is the Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral but as of mid 2011 the old cathedral had been demolished, reportedly due to structural damage from the large earthquake in September 2009, with a new one being built.
An area of reclaimed land jutting into the harbour is the site of the Fiame Mataafa Faumuina Mulinuu II (FMFM II) building, the multistorey government offices named after the first Prime Minister of Samoa, and the Central Bank of Samoa. A clock tower erected as a war memorial acts as a central point for the city. The new market (maketi fou) is inland at Fugalei, where it is more protected from the effects of cyclones. Apia still has some of the early, wooden, colonial buildings which remain scattered around the town, most notably the old courthouse (the new courthouse now operating in Mulinu'u), with a museum on the upper floor. Recent infrastructural development and economic growth has seen several multi-story buildings being built in the city. The ACC building (2001) houses the Accident Compensation Board, the National Bank of Samoa, and some government departments. The mall below it is home to shops and eateries. The Samoatel building (2004) which is the site for Samoa's international telecommunications hub was built inland at Maluafou, again to protect it from the effects of seasonal cyclones. The DBS building (2007) in Savalalo houses the Development Bank of Samoa and new Courts complex in Mulinuu housing the district, supreme, and land & titles courts (2010). The Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Building (2012) in Sogi, houses government ministries. Newer additions to Apia's skyline is the SNPF Molesi shopping mall is due to open in 2013, as is the new hospital at Motootua.
Writer Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last four years of his life here, and is buried on Mt. Vaea, overlooking both the city and the home he built, Vailima, which is now a museum in his honour.
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