2 Best Sights in Tonga Islands

At the far eastern end of Tongatapu, around 16 km (10 miles) east of the capital, is Tonga’s icon, the unusual and vaguely mysterious trilithon known as the Ha’amonga’a Maui. It was built around 1200 AD from three large pieces of limestone mined from what Tongans knew as Uvea (now part of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna), then part of the Tongan Empire. Much like Great Britain’s Stonehenge (though considerably younger), it’s not entirely clear why Ha’amonga ’a Maui was built. The archshaped structure may have been used as a celestial calendar or as a gateway to royal grounds.

Twenty-eight unexcavated burial mounds remain at what was once called Lapaha. Nearby is a monument marking the spot where James Cook first set foot ashore in 1777.