The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society article on the Coral Castle reminded me of this amazing piece of architecture that I had seen on television many, many years ago. The Coral Castle, now on the National Register of Historic Places, was the result of Leedskalnin's unrequitted love, and human determination a monument to the love of his life who broke off their engagement a day before they were to be happily married.
Much like John Bishop and his castle, Edward Leedskalnin single-handedly carved and sculpted over 1,100 tons of coral without outside assistance or large machinery to build the Coral Castle. A man of only 5 feet in stature, weighing just 100 pounds, and with only a fourth grade education, he still managed to cut and move huge coral blocks using only hand tools.
The coral that he worked on was sometimes 4,000 feet thick, and the walls approximately weigh 125 pounds per cubic foot -- each section of wall is 8 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 3 foot thick, and weighs more than 58 tons.
All in all fascinating piece of architecture with an even more spectacular story behind it.
No comments:
Post a Comment