Moai Day, Rapa Nui/Easter Island

Today was moai day! They’re what Rapa Nui/Easter Island is famous for and what makes this place so incredibly special. There are about 7,000 people living here today, but there were 17,000 living on the island in its peak in the 1700s. Because Rapa Nui is the most remote inhabited island in the world, the people here remained insulated from the rest of the world. They established their own rituals, including building moai.

We spent a full day visiting sites within the national park to see tumbled as well as re-erected moai. The most impressive site has a platform of 15 that were restored in 1996. The tallest of them is 8.7 metres and weighs 81 tonnes. The proportion of a moai is usually 1/3 head and 2/3 body. Many of the ones we saw were sunken. There are about 900 spread across the island.

The statues were built in about 1400 to 1650 A.D.. And they were built from single pieces of stone and brought to their sites. How this was done is still a mystery. Each statue is representative of a royal tribe member and is erected as a monument upon their death. The moai are erected facing the village. There were hundreds of these villages with their own moai and when conflicts arose, villagers would go tumble an enemy’s moai. You can read more about them here:

https://www.easterisland.travel/easter-island-f…

The moai are so regal and imposing. Pictures can’t do them justice. Seeing them in person is a real privilege.Läs mer