About the city of Tinian. Tinian Island The beginning of tragic events

Located in the southern part of the Mariana Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, 4.5 km southwest of and 163 southwest of.

Tinian Island is of coral origin and is a raised atoll. The main relief of the island is made up of terraces measuring 20 by 9 km. The highest point of the island reaches 170 m. The area of ​​the island is 102 km² (the third largest island of the Mariana Islands).

The coastline of Tinian in the southern and central parts is quite steep and rugged, but is replete with cozy small bays with tiny beaches, and in the north it is more gentle, but has almost no reefs protecting it from the effects of ocean waves. There are few coral reefs, however, the clear warm waters of the coastal zone are ideal for snorkeling, and the strait between Tinian and Agihan Island is excellent for scuba diving and sport fishing.

This sleepy island, home to the single village of San Jose, has fortunately escaped the main tourist influx and makes a good escape if the hustle and bustle of Saipan, for example, becomes too intrusive.

Population

In 2000, Tinian's population was approximately 2,000, representing 5% of the total population of the Northern Mariana Islands. Approximately 75% of the local population is made up of the country's indigenous people, the Chamorros, and Carolinians (immigrants from the Caroline Islands). Asians and Europeans also live on Tinian.

Story

The island of Tinian was inhabited about 4,000 years ago. The indigenous inhabitants of the island are the Chamorros. The island preserves ancient stone pillars, very similar, for example, to Nan Madol (Micronesia), the megaliths of Palau or the moai of Easter Island. The total weight of these structures exceeds a ton, and the height is about 6 m.

The European discoverer of the island was the Spaniard, Catholic missionary Diego Luis de Sanvitores, who discovered Tinian in 1669. At the end of the 17th century, the Mariana Islands became the possession of Spain.

On February 12, 1899, they were sold by Spain to Germany. Since 1907, Tinian has been part of German New Guinea, reporting to the District Officer of the Caroline Islands.

On October 14, 1914, the Mariana Islands were occupied by the Japanese. In 1920, a League of Nations mandate was established over the islands, administered by Japan. During this period, agriculture actively developed on Tinian, primarily the cultivation of sugar cane.

In 1944, the island was captured by American troops, who soon established a military aviation base on Tinian. In August 1945, bombers launched from an American air base on the island and dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

Beaches and attractions

San Jose, the island's main population center, grew out of an ancient Chamorro village. It is the buildings of the first settlers that are its main attractions.

Taga's House served as a venue for large gatherings and the residence of Taga the Great, the legendary king of the ancient Chamorro state. Around the ruins of this building there is Latte Stone Site- the largest accumulation of ritual stones of the ancient sea peoples in the Mariana Islands.

Nearby, just 800 meters south of San Jose, lies beautiful Taga Beach with turquoise waters and white sand, protected from the sea by a tiny island, and to the north, between Taga Beach and Chongya Beach, is The Dynasty casino complex, which includes a luxury hotel, several shops and restaurants.

Directly within San Jose, between Taga Beach and the port, is located the second popular beach area is Cummer Beach, as well as the Catholic Church of San Jose (1956) with the city bell tower of a rather original appearance (most of all it looks like a lonely lighthouse).

Chulu Beach (Unai-Chulu) on the northwest coast of Tinian, is the site of fierce fighting during the Second World War, where American troops landed on the island, so massive archaeological excavations continue here.

Located in the southeast of the island Suicide Cliff Historical Memorial- from the coastal cliffs towering here after the occupation of the island by the Americans, thousands of Japanese soldiers and members of their families rushed into the sea. Nearby you can see a Shinto shrine, the only intact shrine of this religion in the Mariana Islands.

Also worthy of attention Korean Memorial Park in honor of the Korean workers who died on the island.

And on the northeastern shore of Tinian stretches Unai Dankulu Beach, better known as Long Beach as it is the longest beach on the island. In the coastal cliff above the edge of this secluded stretch of shore there are several caves in which ancient Chamorro wall paintings have been discovered.

About the city of Tinian

Tinian (Tinian) - island in Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands owned by the United States, part of the Mariana Islands archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the municipality of the Commonwealth of the same name.

Tinian Island is located at the southern tip of the archipelago, approximately 4.5 kilometers southeast of the main island of the commonwealth - the island of Saipan (separated from it by Saipan Bay) and 163 kilometers northeast of the island of Guam.

Tinian, like many islands in this region of the Pacific Ocean, is of coral origin and is an atoll jutting out from the sea. This is the third largest island in the Mariana archipelago. Tinian is famous for its small cozy bays, located mainly in the southern and central parts of the island.

The indigenous inhabitants of the island, the Chamorro tribes, inhabited the island long BC. This is also indicated by ancient stone pillars, up to 6 meters high, located on the island and very similar to the moai of Easter Island or the megaliths of Palvu. Europeans discovered the islands in the 16th century, thanks to the Catholic Spanish missionary Diego Luis de Sanvitores.

For about two centuries, the island belonged to the Spaniards, and then, like all the islands of today’s Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, it came under the jurisdiction of Germany, which ceded them to Japan during the First World War. Since 1920, the Mariana Islands have been administered by Japan under a mandate established by the League of Nations. The Japanese managed to quite successfully develop sugar cane cultivation on the island.

The tragic events of World War II led to the capture of the island by the Americans in 1944. The island entered world history thanks to the fact that it was from here in August 1945 that the bombers that dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki took off.

Despite the obvious potential for tourism development, the island noticeably lags behind neighboring Saipan in terms of the level of tourism infrastructure. This is due to the fact that almost half of the island is used by the Americans as a military training ground.

However, part of the island’s budget is replenished by attracting tourists, as well as by two gas stations and The Dynasty casino, with a hotel complex and a shopping center, which is located next to Tachogna Taga Beach.

Among the attractions of the island, we highlight the first buildings of the settlers, located in the small town of San Jose, which is the main settlement of Tinian. Located here are the ruins of the House of Taga - the residence of the legendary Chamorro king Taga the Great, as well as a large accumulation of ritual stones called the Latte Stone Site.

Next to the second most popular beach on the island, Camer Beach, there is the Catholic Church of San Jose, very reminiscent of a lighthouse, built about fifty years ago.

Of interest to tourists is the Suicide Cliff memorial, dedicated to the mass suicide of Japanese military personnel and members of their families who did not want to surrender to the Americans after the latter captured this island. Among the inhabitants living on the islands, some professed Judaism. Today, this is evidenced by the only surviving synagogue on the islands, located on the island of Tinian.

Note that the coast of the island is an excellent place for diving, snorkeling, spearfishing and sport fishing. Tinian's terrain is dotted with limestone caves, where you can find ancient petroglyphs left by the Chamorro tribes.

The climate of Tinian, like all of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Saipan is tropical, trade wind. The temperature stays throughout the year in the range of +28 C...+33 C. The most convenient period for visiting the island is from December to May.

Official website of the islands - www.cnmiago.gov.mp

Tinian dialing code: +670 (all islands)

The island can be reached by ferry from Saipan, as well as by air through a small airport Tinian International Airport(http://www.cpa.gov.mp/tinapt.asp), used for air travel to other islands.

Tinian is the least populated of the main islands of the Mariana Archipelago, located just 8 km southeast of Saipan. In addition to the magnificent nature and ocean, Tinian is famous for its large number of historical relics from the Second World War, as well as the presence of the only casino in the region.

Transport

You can get to the island from neighboring Saipan on a small private airline plane. The flight will take only 10-15 minutes.

There is no public transport in Tinian, so it is advisable to rent a car upon arrival. This can be done immediately at the airport or later at the hotel. If the trips are short distances, you can limit yourself to renting a moped or scooter.

Attractions

One of the main natural attractions of Tinian is the Blow Hall geyser, located in the northern part of the island, at the junction of land and sea. From time to time, a sea wave hits the opening of the geyser - and then a powerful column of water soars up, accompanied by a deafening “sigh of the earth.”

But the most famous man-made attractions are all kinds of military structures erected by both Japanese and American builders. Among the Japanese heritage, it is worth noting the Naval Aviation Command Post and Communications Center. Even now, half a century later, they make a strong impression on tourists.

Among the American facilities, one can highlight the Northfil military airfield. It was built in just two months and was the busiest airfield in the world until the end of World War II. It was from here that the infamous Enola Gay bomber took off, carrying atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In memory of these events, a memorial was erected on the territory of the airfield.

Entertainment

Tinian is one of the best places in the Mariana Islands for fishing enthusiasts. When you take a boat out into the open sea, you will get guaranteed pleasure from catching large barracudas, tuna and marlin.

The coastal zone is an excellent place for diving. The most beautiful coral reefs, rocks and caves can leave few people indifferent. And if you go further out to sea, you can swim with huge sea turtles - one of the main attractions of Tinian.

On land you will find traditional buggies and quad bikes for this area. You can ride on specially designated areas, or you can go along the sea coast or deep into the jungle.

Among the unusual entertainments, it is worth noting flying an airplane. After completing a short training course with a local airline, you can fly around the island on Cessna. An experienced pilot will sit next to you, who will insure you and land the plane.

“Tinian Island, one of the small islands of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. Tinian belongs to the southern group of islands that are part of the Mariana archipelago. Together with the island of Saipan, located 4.5 km away, and the distant islands of Guam and Rota, more than 100 km away, it forms the state of the Northern Mariana Islands. Tinian's closest neighbors are the same island states; Caroline Islands in the south, Nampo Islands in the north, Marshall Islands in the east. The distance to the Asian mainland is over 2800 km.”

The indigenous population of Tinian, like the entire group of Mariana Islands, are the people Chamorro, who sailed from the Philippines and settled the archipelago back in the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. Scientists believe that the ancient Filipinos knew about these islands long before moving to them. Philippine and Mariana Islands separated by more than 2000 km of open ocean, it seems doubtful that the ancestors of the Chamorros, in search of new lands, randomly sailed so far east in their fragile boats. But what is more likely, the migration was preceded by a search expedition, which, having discovered lands suitable for habitation, explored them and only after that, returned to the Philippines and told others about their discovery.

According to another version, the ancestors of the Chamorros were people from Indonesia, or even Malaysia, as indicated by the structure of the skulls found in ancient burials islands. In addition, supporters of this version argue that the settlement Tiniana did not happen purposefully: supposedly the sailors from New Guinea were carried north and thrown ashore by a storm. Such an event could well have taken place, except for the subsequent resettlement, and such a “Robinsonade” looks unconvincing. But in favor of the first version, the ceramics found on the island, completely identical to those found in Mindanao, part of the Philippines, eloquently speaks in favor of the first version. archipelago.

But whoever these first settlers were and wherever they came from, from the west or from the south, to Tinian, this had only an indirect relation. It was settled as one of the last in the Mariana Islands group, and not from the distant ancestral home of the Chamorros, but from a nearby island Guam, which was mastered several centuries earlier. The resettlement to other islands of the archipelago was caused by population growth, which Guam alone, by that time, was no longer able to feed. Check-in Tiniana occurred approximately in the 16th-15th centuries. BC e. and the colonists brought to it not only elements of the emerging culture, but also seeds of domesticated plants, and among them, as many researchers believe, was rice. And this alone completely refutes the theory of spontaneous settlement.

But the most interesting thing that the settlers brought with them to Tinian, was a stone processing technology that they mastered back in Guam. This seems incredible - these people did not know metals until the discovery of the islands by Europeans, and the hardest material they had to deal with was the shells of sea animals. And, nevertheless, they learned to process stones and carve out the so-called latte. Latte, or as they are also called - skittles, are mushroom-shaped columns, similar to a glass with a high stem. Lattes consist of two parts: the actual “legs”, called haliga, which, in turn, are crowned with tasa, a kind of capital shaped like a bowl. The process of processing stone, which is represented here mainly by limestone, and hewing from it column latte, was very labor-intensive and apparently took quite a lot of time: First, the stones were fired, heated to a certain temperature, and then doused with water, as a result of which the limestone became soft enough for processing by scraping. The main tool for this difficult task was scrapers made from shells with jagged edges.

Used latte for building houses and served as piles. On the one hand, high above the ground there is always better air circulation, due to which such houses were open to all winds, which in hot climates Micronesia more than relevant. On the other hand, during the monsoons, thanks to the cup-shaped shape of the tasa, which creates a negative angle of elevation, rats and coconut crabs, who strive to hide somewhere during the rainy season, could not get into the dwelling. But this is only an assumption, albeit the most common one, and the true meaning of this may be completely different. After all, it seems not entirely logical to make so much effort just for utilitarian purposes. However, if these guesses are correct, we can say with confidence that the people Chamorro already during the late Neolithic, he was at a fairly high stage of development, since he was so concerned about his comfort.

Leftovers column latte, have survived to this day and are located in the area of ​​​​local beaches, but they are all relatively small, but the ruins of an ancient settlement, called by archaeologists Taga's House, truly impressive. Not so long ago, one of its buildings, which was the “residence” of the Tinian leaders, was a colonnade consisting of 6 pairs column latte. But after the earthquake of 1907, all of them collapsed, except for one, which retained its vertical position, but it also gives a clear idea of ​​what the Taga House looked like in ancient times. The dimensions of these columns are impressive: they are about 6 m in height and weigh more than a ton; all the others, in comparison, look like dwarfs. According to the legend of the Chamorro people, this village was built by someone Taga, who sailed to the island with his family from somewhere far away, at the behest of the local leader, who decided to test his strength in this way.

But in reality it turned out that Taga's House has a much more ancient history than local legends say. Taga himself is a real historical figure, he was the leader of Tinian and lived at the end of the 10th century. n. e. But the emergence of the village named after him is attributed by archaeologists who began excavations on the island in December 2011 to the 16th century. BC e., that is, by the time of its settlement. As a result of their research, the remains of two-story houses with stone-paved floors were discovered, in which people constantly lived from the 15th century. BC e. to the 11th century n. e. Both in them and next to them, many fragments of broken ceramic dishes with patterns characteristic of the local culture were found. And also, numerous burials, a little away from Taga Houses, belonging to the same period as the buildings. And one can hope that the most interesting, perhaps even intriguing, finds await archaeologists yet to come, as excavations continue.

About the people themselves Chamorro Apart from the fact that they were skilled sailors, as well as skilled potters and stonecutters, little is known. In particular, thanks to the work of the same archaeologists, we can now say with confidence that for thousands of years, communication between the Mariana and Philippine Islands has never been interrupted. Besides, Chamorro had extensive cultural and trade ties with the islands of Indonesia, as well as Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, and by the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. they began to regularly visit the shores of New Zealand. But the most amazing thing is that around the 9th-8th centuries. BC e. they established trade relations with Taiwan, and after that with the east coast of China!

The first Europeans to see the Mariana Islands were members of the expedition Ferdinand Magellan On March 6, 1521, they tried to land on the coast, but were unfriendly by the local population. In a skirmish on the shore, 7 natives were killed and 2 Spaniards were wounded, who immediately retreated and returned to the ships. In the heat of battle, the islanders stole the boat, although they themselves, like all the naive native peoples of Oceania, far from the concept of property, did not consider it theft, and did not feel any remorse. Magellan thought differently, who plotted the outlines of the islands on the map, and in memory of this event, named them Robbers.

Officially, the islands became the property of the Spanish crown in 1565, but the first Europeans began to settle on them only in 1668, and the authorship of their modern name is attributed to a Spanish missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, who actually named them Mariana, in honor of Doña Marianna, widow of King Philip IV. The first attempt to colonize the islands ended unsuccessfully, he San Vitores was killed by the natives, which led to an armed conflict that lasted almost half a century. By 1700, when the Spanish-Chamorra War ended, the indigenous population of the archipelago was almost completely exterminated, out of 150,000 only 5,000 remained. The inhabitants of Tinian were resettled to Guam, and the island was settled by Spaniards and Filipinos who converted to Christianity. In 1899, after defeat in the Spanish-American War, Spain sold the Northern Mariana Islands to Germany, and in 1907 Tinian became part of German New Guinea.

In 1918 after graduation First World War, control over Tinian, like the other Mariana Islands, was established by the League of Nations, but already in 1920 it transferred them to the control of Japan. The Japanese, starting in 1926, launched large-scale clearing of the jungle, after which their place was taken by plantations where sugar cane was grown. In fact, during this period, the entire Tinian turned into one large sugar plantation, covering an area of ​​3000 hectares, which accounted for more than 80% of the entire island. In parallel with this, large-scale construction began here; a large port, a distillery, a power plant appeared, roads were laid, in addition, Tinian was actively Japaneseized: schools and Shinto shrines were built throughout the island.

During World War II wars, in the northern part of the island the Japanese built the Yushifield airfield, and since 1944 the headquarters of the Japanese Air Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Kakuji Kakuta, was located here. On July 24, 1944, an American force of fifteen thousand landed on the beaches of Unai Chulu and Unai Babui, taking the Japanese army by surprise. The Japanese launched a night counterattack on the coast, but as a result of a 3-hour battle they were forced to retreat, losing 2,000 people. The Americans, having quickly advanced deeper into the island, captured the airfield and the most important strategic facilities on July 25, and the Japanese troops were thrown back to the southern tip of the island, where they still had fortifications. After a massive bombardment on July 27 with “fire bombs” filled with napalm, which were used for the first time, the surviving Japanese units, realizing the hopelessness of their situation, committed an act of mass suicide on August 1 by jumping off a cliff.

And we can say that exactly Tanian put an end to World War II when bombers took off from an American base on the island to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the end of the war, the island remained under American control, but in 1978 it received special status and became part of the state of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the image of the famous latte columns, became an element of its national flag.

The legend of the Chamorro people says that in the standing column lives the soul of a young maiden, the daughter of the leader Taga. She cannot leave the world of the living because she grieves for her brother, who was killed by their father in a fit of rage. When her tears dry up, the princess's soul will leave this world, and then the last column will collapse.