Photo Tour: Nan Madol Ruins, Pohnpei
The ruins of the ancient city of Nan Madol are spread across about 100 artificial islets off the coast. Built over a long period, sometime between 1000 and 1500 CE (AD), it was an important religious and political center for the area. I didn't expect to see such fantastic structures here, so far away from anything else.
My guides combined Nan Madol with a trip to the Kepiroki waterfall (on the previous page).
We're headed for the big ruin on the left, which is the main one we explored:
Walking around can take a little scrambling:
Some of the huge basalt blocks are close to 10 meters long. I heard that they weigh as much as 50 tonnes (metric tons, around 100 English tons), but I didn't check that ;-):
Two views around the outside of the building we explored:
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[Tour start: Micronesia, 2002]
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(These photographs are Copyright © 2002 and 2005 by Jerry Peek. Much higher-resolution versions of most images, and many other images too, are available at Jerry Peek Photography. Photos are available at reduced prices, or free, for non-commercial use.)