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Leluh is a remarkable coral-built city located on Lelu Island, just off the coast of Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia, in the central Pacific. First occupied around AD 1250, it served as the political and ceremonial center of Kosraean chiefs until the mid-19th century, when sustained contact with European whalers and missionaries led to its decline.

The city was constructed using scleractinian coral and massive prismatic basalt blocks, which together formed an extensive network of walls, raised terraces, paved causeways, and some 20 enclosed compounds. The settlement expanded beyond the natural shoreline of Lelu Island through the creation of artificial land built over a shallow reef filled with coral.

At its height, Leluh covered approximately 270,000 square meters and housed an estimated 1,500 people. Its inhabitants lived within a rigidly stratified social hierarchy, governed by a king (tokosra), high chiefs (lem fulat), and land managers (mwetsuksuk). Social rank dictated both the style of housing and its location within the city. The king and elite resided at the center, protected behind high basalt walls. To the west, the lesser nobility occupied coral-built houses, while commoners lived in more modest huts.

The people of Leluh also constructed pyramidal mortuary monuments known as saru. These truncated structures, with rectangular bases, contained elaborate burial chambers. Historical accounts describe how deceased kings were anointed with coconut oil, wrapped in mats and cordage, and interred within the saru for several months. Later, the remains were exhumed, ritually cleaned, and transported to the small artificial islet of Yenasr on the reef, where they were reburied in deep pits to unite the ruler with the sea.

Early European visitors speculated wildly about Leluh’s origins, attributing its construction to Spanish castaways, pirates, or even Japanese seafarers. Modern scholarship, however, recognizes Leluh as the product of an indigenous Kosraean tradition. While its use of basalt echoes the famous site of Nan Madol on neighboring Pohnpei, Leluh’s distinctive reliance on coral and its unique architectural features point to an independent cultural trajectory that long predated European contact.

Today, Leluh stands as one of Micronesia’s most extraordinary archaeological sites, a testament to the engineering ingenuity and complex social organization of Kosrae’s ancient island society.