About
Some 9,000 miles from its Easter Island brethren, a lone Moai stands in a small Italian town.
A 20-foot-tall Moai statue carved in local peperino stone looks towards the city of Vitorchiano. It is claimed to be the only original Moai statue outside of Easter Island (apart of the one at the British Museum in London). But how did it come to be standing some 9,000 miles away from its Polynesian brethren in the Pacific? Vitorchiano is a small town about 45 miles north of Rome, near the local provincial capital of Viterbo. It clings to a peperino rock bluff perched above two deep gorges, an impregnable position. The town is surrounded by 13th-century walls and the beautifully preserved historical center can be accessed from the main gate, Porta Romana. Several panoramic viewpoints look over the gorges below. One such viewpoint across the gorge, facing the historical town, is adorned by an exotic and unexpected monument.
