is not paved, so it can be difficult getting to the top without four wheel drive.
There is a giant wooden cross and a statue of Jesus Christ at the summit.
Every year on Good Friday (the Friday before Easter), the local Catholics
carry a new cross to the top of the mountain.
The pilgramage starts in the village of Chalan Kanoa at the Mount Carmel
Church. They load the cross into a pickup truck and drive it to the bottom of
the coral road leading to the top of the mountain.
A prayer service is held at the bottom and then 30-40 young men take turns
carrying the cross up the mountain. The cross is very big, about the
thickness of a telephone pole, so it takes at least 20 guys at a time to carry it.
From the top of Mount Tapachou one can see the entire island of Saipan
and the islands of Tinian and Aguijan to the south.
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The Coral Reef Public Awareness in Saipan Project is supported by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
