![]() ![]() (Image by Michael Runkel / robertharding via Getty Images) The means by which enormous stones were transported and lifted to build Nan Madol’s edifices remains a mystery. The Saudeleur dynasty, which founded the city, became increasingly tyrannical and autocratic over the centuries of its rule, demanding tributes of food staples taro, breadfruit and yams from neighbouring islands. ![]() The city emerged around 1,200 years ago and thrived for more than five centuries as a hub of inter-island trade and exchange. Consisting of more than 90 artificial islands, it is easy to see why this site has been dubbed the ‘Venice of the Pacific’. Why lost: Abandoned in the mid-17th century for unknown reasonsĪpproaching Nan Madol by canoe affords one of the most awe-inspiring vistas of any of the world’s ‘lost’ cities, yet only a few hundred visitors do so each year.īuilt on a series of small, low-lying coral reefs fringing Pohnpei, one of the Federated States of Micronesia, this complex is a remarkable feat of human engineering, its great stone walls rising out of the ocean waters.Built by: Saudeleur dynasty, from around the ninth century.What: Canal-laced city on a reef – the ‘Venice of the Pacific’.Where: Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.
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