Tongan architecture is best known for its monumental stonework, most notably the langi, large artificial hills built as royal tombs for the Tuʻi Tonga rulers and surrounded by huge slabs of coral rock arranged in three or more tiered layers. The coral slabs were quarried from coastal sites on Tongatapu and nearby islands and cut precisely enough to fit together with barely any gap; at least two dozen langi remain visible at the former capital of Lapaha, including the Paepae o Telea, known for its distinctive L shaped corner slabs. Tongan builders also produced the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui, a stone trilithon erected in the thirteenth century by King Tuʻitatui from three coral limestone slabs, each upright stone weighing thirty to forty tons and fitted to its lintel using deep cut mortise joints, believed to have served as a gateway to the royal compound of Heketā.
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