Ahu Tongariki

Tongariki is the largest ahu on Rapa Nui, carrying fifteen moai on a platform about a hundred metres long. They had been toppled long before, during the island's internal conflicts, and in May 1960 the tsunami from the Valdivia earthquake - the largest ever recorded - swept the fallen statues and the platform stones as much as a hundred metres inland. Restoration ran from 1992 to 1996 under the Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino with a crane donated by a Japanese company, and the statues were raised again. They face inland, as all moai do, with their backs to the sea and the sunrise behind them.

Background

One of the fifteen moai weighs eighty-six tonnes, the heaviest statue ever raised on Rapa Nui. The platform stands on the island's southern coast in Rapa Nui National Park's Hotu-iti area, one kilometer from Rano Raraku and Poike, two extinct volcanoes. Poike ranks among the three main volcanoes that built the island. All the moai here face the setting sun at the winter solstice. The restoration of the 1990s was carried out by a multidisciplinary team under the archaeologists Claudio Cristino and Patricia Vargas Casanova, in a five-year project that also involved the University of Chile and Tadano, a Japanese crane manufacturer.

Source: Wikipedia, "Ahu Tongariki"

The main sights

• Fifteen moai on one platform - the largest ahu on the island.
• Scattered by the 1960 tsunami - moved up to a hundred metres inland.
• Restored between 1992 and 1996 - with a donated Japanese crane.
• Facing inland - as all moai do, backs to the sea.

When to go

Year round; sunrise puts the light behind the row. Half a day.

Practical notes

Sunrise is crowded and cold, and access at that hour is regulated. Approaching or touching the ahu is prohibited. There is no shade and the wind is constant. The park ticket is required and expensive.

Nearby

Rano Raraku is minutes inland; Hanga Roa is west.

Key facts