Tongariki

Ahu Tongariki houses the largest stone platform on Easter Island. This platform, known as an ahu, is lined up on 200 metre long podium. Easter Island’s ahu were meticulously restored in the early 1990s after the island’s civil war toppled the Moai and a tsunami later displaced them inland.
The area of Ahu Tongariki is situated between two extinct volcanoes, Rano Raraku and Poike. It was once the capital centre of the Hotu Iti tribe and, according to Polynesian mythology, led by the son of the first Easter Island settler.
15 proud and distinct Moai stand firmly on the ahu, with their stone backs to the Pacific Ocean, facing inward toward the mountain quarry and at the remnants of an ancient village. A 16th, travelling moai is absent, as it is showcased at exhibitions across the world, and is viewed as the protector of the 15 left behind.
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