📍Kamakahonu, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740, USA
1812 – 1819“I was born on the island of Hawaiʻi on a stormy night, it is said, when a bright light crossed the sky, and I was raised in secret for my safety. As a young warrior and chief I fought for many years, and by 1810 I had united the islands of Hawaiʻi into one kingdom. In 1812 I returned to my home island and made my royal residence at Kamakahonu, the Eye of the Turtle, a sheltered beach at Kailua in Kona, where I spent the last years of my life. Kamakahonu was a place of government and of daily work. Here I gathered my chiefs and advisers, received foreign ships and traders, and held council. Beside the beach I restored the temple of ʻAhuʻena, dedicated to Lono, god of peace and the harvest, and I set an example by working in the taro and sweet potato fields of Kona myself, and by fishing along this shore. In these years I upheld the laws I had made to protect the weak, above all the Law of the Splintered Paddle, which promised that the elderly, women and children could lie down safely by the road. From Kamakahonu I governed a kingdom at peace, trading sandalwood with the world while trying to keep it Hawaiian. My favourite wife, Kaʻahumanu, and my son Liholiho, who would succeed me, lived here with me. Today Kamakahonu is a National Historic Landmark, and the restored ʻAhuʻena heiau still stands on its little point in Kailua Bay, beside the boats and swimmers, recalling the place where the kingdom I built took its settled shape.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today