This castle is often equated with the engineering genius of Stonehenge and the great Egyptian pyramids. How could one person build it alone? The question that still excites the minds of people …
Background. How it all began
Believe it or not, this architectural miracle was erected by a Latvian émigré named Edward Ledskalnik, whose weight was only 45 kilograms and his height was one and a half meters.
He worked alone for nearly three decades …
The construction of the Coral Castle was preceded by a story of unhappy love and a broken heart.
16-year-old beloved Edward broke off the engagement right on the eve of the planned wedding.
The dejected groom fell into despair. He fled to America and, after endless wanderings, settled in Florida, where he began the construction of a stone masterpiece.
He wanted to prove to her and to the whole world that he could do something fundamental, despite his poverty.
Building
He was a bricklayer by profession. He worked exclusively at night. He had a little oddity - he forbade anyone to watch his work.
If it suddenly happened that someone curious nevertheless entered the territory of the castle, he immediately stopped the whole process and silently looked at the unexpected guest … until he left home.
The outstanding builder was withdrawn and unsociable, communicated only with a narrow circle of people.
After 30 years, when he was asked the question - how did he manage to build such an engineering miracle on his own, Edward replied without undue modesty:
“I discovered the secrets of the pyramids and learned how the Egyptians and ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan and Asia, using only primitive tools, lifted and replaced stone blocks weighing several tons!”
He explained that he used a complex theory of magnetic fields in his work.
Scientists' assumptions
Scientists have struggled with this mystery for a long time and have suggested one possible solution to the puzzle.
They said that Ledskalnin had found a way to flip the magnetic pole within individual objects, causing them to repel rather than attract the Earth.
There were, of course, wild theories - supernatural forces, for example.
They were fed by several local teenagers who claimed to be watching Ed's work. They said they had witnessed coral blocks floating in the air "like balloons."
After Edward's death, a device was found in his castle, the purpose of which is still unclear …
Maybe there is a clue in it?
The great thing about Coral Castle is that to this day no one really knows exactly how Ed did it.
In 1986, when the gate broke, it took six people and a crane to dismantle it …
And yet the castle stands as proof of the inventive genius of a purposeful person.
Would you like to go there?
