Who Built The Ancient City Of Nan-Matal In Ponape, and Why Did They Disappear?

The people who live on the remote island of Ponape in the Pacific are simple farmers and fishermen.

There are no cities of any size on the island. However, the ruins of an ancient city suggest that Ponape may once have had a much larger population than it does today.

This city, called Nan-Matal, is located in the most hard-to-get-to part of Ponape. Nan-Matal once boasted a network of canals, a large sea wall to protect the city’s port, and walls 30 feet high that surrounded the city.

The kind of construction used at Nan-Matal is unknown today to the people of the island. Then who built Nan-Matal?

And why were some of the structures there left half finished, as if the builders were forced to flee quickly? So far, these questions remain unanswered.