The Anchoress

I’m still taking a break from blogging, but this story is so remarkable and so fascinating I had to share it.

Coral Castle is an enclosed structure constructed entirely of coral blocks weighing tons and tons.

It was built by one man, alone, who worked at night using simple tools, and it is staggering to comprehend.

Entrance is made through a gate fashioned from a single coral block weighing nine tons. This miraculous monolith is approximately 80 inches wide, 92 inches tall, and 21 inches thick. It fits within a quarter of an inch of the walls on either side and pivots through an iron rod resting on an automobile gear. The enormous block balances so perfectly on its center of gravity that a visitor can easily push it open with one finger. Modern construction engineers are at a loss to explain how such a ponderous object could have been set with such a high level of precision. Another gate, this one a great triangle, at the opposite wall, weighs three tons.

Leedskalnin was a fanatic for secrecy and worked only after sundown, when he was certain no one was watching him. If anyone did stop by to inquire how he was getting along, he would immediately stop working and chat pleasantly with visitors until they left, when he would resume construction. When we consider that he cut, moved, and positioned all of the structure’s megalithic blocks in the dead of night, the man’s achievement assumes a truly incredible scale. Some teenagers spying on him one evening claimed they saw him “float coral blocks through the air like hydrogen balloons,” but no one took them seriously. If their testimony can be believed, they were the only witnesses to the construction of Coral Castle.

You’ll really want to read the whole thing. I googled more images, too. This gent in the UK thinks he’s figured it out and purports to have pitcures of Ed doing the work. I’m not sure what to think, but it’s all fascinating and mysterious. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy.