Rapa Nui National Park

Unesco's Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization has recognized Chile's Rapa Nui National Park as a World Cultural Heritage in 1995.

Rapa Nui National Park, ChileRapa Nui is also known as Easter Island in Chile, the island is located in the south of the Pacific Ocean, Chile is about 3,600 km, this is one of the most isolated islands in the world. . The name Easter was given to the island because in 1722, the Dutch on the expedition discovered the island on Easter Sunday.

Rapa Nui Island is formed from three large volcanoes, Poike; Rano Kau and Terevaka, though this is not the reason why this island became famous. The main reason why the island is resurrected is that the world is known for its large statues made of rock and volcanic ash, indigenous people call these statues Moai . All Moai statues are made of monolith, meaning that from a large rock, the ancients cleverly carved into a statue weighing tens of tons. Among the remaining Moai statues on Easter Island, the largest statue is called Paro . Paro is 10 meters tall, weighs 75 tons. In addition, Paro has another Moai, with a height of 21 meters and a weight of 270 tons, but this statue is in unfinished condition.

Huge, very famous stone statues on Easter Island

With modern instrumentation and the most advanced archaeological equipment, archaeological scientists have conducted many studies on the island. From the findings, it is estimated that there are nearly 1000 Moai on Easter Island, up to now 394 Moai is still quite intact and identifiable. About 1800, for some reason, all Moai on Easter Island were overthrown, many Moai rolled away from their original positions. Although archaeologists have tried to bring these giant statues back to their original positions over the years, more than 50 Moai have been relocated.
Although the number of Moai is close to 1000, there are still many other Moai that have not been found buried in the caves, but for the rest there are no two identical statues on the island. Easter. For that reason, many assumptions are made that these giant stone statues are portraits of powerful, high-ranking people on the island, possibly patriarchs with families or seniors in the ministry. clan .

All Moai statues are engraved in a very lively and realistic image. There are eye sockets, long ears, hands are close to the body with long fingers. The talent of the ancient people is most evident in the first part with the skill of sculpting the mouth, nose, limbs and eyebrows extremely sophisticated. The nape of the statues is made up of flattened motifs, elongated ears but the eyes, nose and mouth strokes are not confused with any statues. Some Moai statues are curved or spiral-shaped, perhaps to decentralize social status.

Another interesting thing is that although there are thousands of statues, there are more than 30 statues with red hats on the island. Specifically, on the South bank of the island, there are 15 statues with red hats, the North bank has 10 statues and the West coast has 06 statues. In addition to the appearance of other statues, more than 30 statues have a red hat on their heads. These hat statues stand out among the rest of the Moai on the island, suggesting that the backgrounds of these characters must have something different. In addition to more than 30 red hat statues on Easter Island, there are 25 red stone statues, but these are not yet complete.

Scientists believe that the author of the Moai stone statues on Easter Island is a Polynesian - a group of people who owned the Pacific Ocean in the 1000s AD. These stone statues date from 1000 to 1100. One thing so far lies in the veil of mystery that is why the Polynesians can create giant stone statues, okay. Such delicate cutting. Because at that time the Polynesians were just a primitive living people, with no special creation or advance. Besides, the stone statues scattered on the island in the process of completion are stopped abruptly, leaving many questions that cannot be explained.

According to what remains today, the island is quite poor in terms of flora and fauna, most of the island has only bare rocks and about 50 species of plants growing. However, through the research process, scientists have discovered many pollen and traces of some other plants that have been growing on the island thousands of years ago. So the assumption is that if Easter Island was once very well developed and lush, but because of human destruction, the island suffered an ecological disaster leading to destruction? Some argue that the islanders destroyed the forest for timber to transport the Moai statue and cause an ecological disaster, destroying the civilization on the island. Another opinion is that the fluctuations of the El Nino underground waves and tsunamis have caused disaster. Right or wrong, there is still no conclusion because scientists need more evidence to determine the exact cause of the destruction of the island. Just knowing that, although pristine and the most isolated place in the world, for many years, Easter Island has become a destination for many adventurers as well as traveling lovers.

To be able to reach Easter Island, tourists must travel by ship quite hard and take a long time. On the island, there are no luxury hotels, resorts, restaurants, everything is still very untouched and needy. But in return, the beauty of the most isolated island in the world makes any visitor have to fall in love. Besides, the stories, the legends and the mysterious stone statues here are endless inspiration to attract tourists.

Chile's Rapa Nui National Park is recognized by Unesco as a world cultural heritage by criteria (i), (iii), (v).

Criterion (i): Rapa Nui National Park is one of the most remarkable places in the world.

Criterion (iii): Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island is a historical testament to the Polynesian origin. One ethnic group owns the Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago.

Criterion (v): Rapa Nui National Park is the most isolated island in the world today, it has a beautiful landscape with very special history and culture that nowhere in the world.