LATTE STONE FROM ME' PU, FENA LAKE

LATTE STONE: THE SILENT WITNESS TO GUAM'S ANCIENT HISTORY 

By Henry Libo-on 

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Many times I have been passing by the Latte Stone Park also known as Senator Angel Leon Guerrero Santos Memorial Park on Guam Island’s capital of Hagatna. My curiosity was caught by those big stones forming a line that looked like an incomplete structure of a house. So, one day I went there and inspected each stone. Indeed, they were historical and tell a beautiful story about this beautiful island of Guam.

Although historians believe that the Latte Stone was built in 500 A.D. those found on Guam were built by the Chamorros, the natives of the island, around 1100 to 1700 A.D. Their use in the Chamorro culture, however, vanished when the Spanish devastated the island in 1600, (www.Guam Portal.com)

These Latte Stones were used as building support of Chamorro homes. The latte is composed of two stones, the pillar or “haligi” in Chamorro language and the other a hemispherical stone called a “tasa” which is placed on top of the pillar just like a cap, its flat side facing upward.

The Latte Stone is made of sandstones, basalts, and limestone and can be found in almost all islands of the Mariana. The Latte Stone is indeed a symbol of the history and culture of the Chamorros, the beautiful people of the island of Guam, where America’s day begins. 

(Text and photo by Touristangpobre)

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Reviewed on July 17, 2020. 

Reviewed on May 13, 2022. 

Blogger's note:

Guam Island was my home when my first grandson, Aaron was growing up. I love Guam. You have to be here to know why. You can tour the whole island, which is shaped like the island of Negros in the Philippines, within 2 hours but longer if you stop by its tourist and historical sites.   Henry L.