Sacred coastal sanctuary preserving ancient Hawaiian law, royal grounds, and cultural traditions within a lava rock landscape.

How to Get There

From Kona, HI (22 mi): Drive south on HI-11 for about 45 minutes, turn right onto Hōnaunau Beach Road, and follow signs to the park entrance.

Overview

Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park is a national historical park located on the west coast of the island of Hawai'i. The historical park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu (one of the ancient laws) could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or pu'uhonua. The offender would be absolved by a priest and freed to leave. Defeated warriors and non-combatants could also find refuge here during times of battle. The grounds just outside the Great Wall that encloses the pu'uhonua were home to several generations of powerful chiefs.

Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau is one of the only places in Hawaii where the flag of Hawaii can officially fly alone without the American flag; the other three places are 'Iolani Palace, the Mauna 'Ala and Thomas Square.

Park name and features

The 420 acre (1.7 km2) site was originally established in 1955 as City of Refuge National Historical Park and was renamed on November 10, 1978. It includes the pu'uhonua and a complex of archeological sites including: temple platforms, royal fishponds, sledding tracks, and some coastal village sites. The Hale o Keawe temple and several thatched structures have been reconstructed.

Hale o Keawe heiau

Hale o Keawe was an ancient Hawaiian heiau originally built in approximately 1650 AD as the burial site for the ruling monarch (ali'i nui) of the Island of Hawaii named Keawe'īkekahiali'iokamoku. It was built by his son, a Kona chief named Kanuha. The complex may have been established as early as 1475 under the ali'i nui 'Ehu-kai-malino. The nobility (ali'i) of Kona continued to be buried until the abolition of the kapu system. The last person buried here was a son of Kamehameha I in 1818.

The heiau contained 23 remains including that of Keawe'īkekahiali'iokamoku. It was situated near a great ancient wall near the royal residence to the east side of the wall. Further south were further ali'i homes were built. Excavations of the area indicate a large crafting community to support the royal residence. The heiau would lay untouched after the banning of the Hawaiian religion while all other such temples were destroyed until Kaahumanu had the building dismantled and all the remains moved to the royal mausoleum in Honolulu.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0