Religion has played an important role in the history of the Hawaiian Islands. When Christian missionaries arrived in the islands, they brought with them their belief system and the church. From small rural chapels to huge cathedrals located in the heart of Hawaii’s capital, you’ll find countless beautiful churches across the Hawaiian Islands, but there is no church quite like the one we’re sharing with you today.

Nestled on the slopes of Mount Haleakala in upcountry Maui, the Holy Ghost Catholic Church, also known as the Holy Ghost Mission, is truly one-of-a-kind. This octagonal-shaped building measures in at a mere sixty feet in diameter, and is pretty as a postcard.

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Designed by Father James Beissel and built by his parishioners — who were Portuguese and had come to Hawaii to work on the local sugarcane plantation from the Azores and Madeira Islands — Holy Ghost celebrated its first mass in 1895 and was consecrated in 1899.

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An architecturally significant building, the Holy Ghost Catholic Church is thought to be the only octagonal-shaped building in Hawaii from the nineteenth century.

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With a steep hipped roof of corrugated metal interrupted by a mock-clerestory and terminating with an open steeply, Holy Ghost Catholic Church is a beauty — inside and out.

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The church, which overlooks the Maui countryside and the Pacific Ocean, was placed on both the Hawaii Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

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Full of ornate and beautiful details, the century-old church was closed for a year in the early 1990s to undergo a major restoration, and is, to this day, an active Roman Catholic Congregation.

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You don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate this stunning work of art often referred to by locals as the “wedding cake church.”

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The Holy Ghost Mission is located at 4300 Lower Kula Rd., Kula, HI 96790. Have you ever visited this stunning little church before? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

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In addition to unique churches like this one, the Hawaiian Islands are also home to several one-of-a-kind temples like the Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean in Paia.

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