Coral Castle
And this did not even take into account how the ancients managed to cut these huge stones out of the quarries, sometimes with surgical precision.
I marvel now that I never questioned the cheesy illustrations in my 5th grade sociology book. When it was said that we could not duplicate this feat today you’d think that would spark some real serious research into the subject, but actually, we weren’t really supposed to think too hard about this. Because we might start wanting some real answers to these questions!
Some interesting programs on the History Channel have been delving into these mysteries and coming up with various solutions. Ancient Aliens, anti-gravity devices, lost technologies…
But here is a fascinating case of a stone megalith that was built within the last 80 years.
Coral Castle was created and erected single-handedly by Edward Leedskalnin in south Florida . Mr Leedskalnin came from Latvia, and the story goes that he’d been jilted by his fiancee and so built Coral Castle in memory of their love. Very romantic, but probably not the truth.
Whatever the reason, what Edward Leedskalnin did was truly amazing. Over the course of 28 years, from 1923 until he passed on in 1951, he cut and moved hundreds of tons of huge limestone blocks by himself to create his fantastic vision.
He carved a variety of objects out of single pieces of limestone, most weighing about 14 tons each. The largest stone in Coral Castle weighs close to 30 tons.
No mortar was used in any of his structures, and the blocks are cut with such precision that there is no space between them.
Leedskalnin was just 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds. Much has been made of this, but seriously, does that matter? Who can single handedly lift 30 ton rocks no matter how big they are? He never permitted anyone to view him as he worked, and he did his building during the dark of the night. When asked about his methods, he said that he understood weights and leverage, and that he “knew the secrets of the pharaohs.”
A group of teenaged boys claimed to have secretly watched him at work one night. They said that they heard Leedskalnin humming and that the giant blocks of stone floated at his command like helium balloons.
With interest and research into alternative energy exploding all over the world, Leedskalnin’s accomplishments and records are being extensively researched. If you google Coral Castle, you can take a nifty virtual tour of the place. This little photo hardly does it justice!
You can find Leedskalnin’s notes and books to read online as well if you have a hankering to try to figure out his secrets. He claimed that the info is all there if you just put it together correctly.
Maybe we could move some dams!
Stephanie Kelley
