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[[Image:Coral Castle 1.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Coral Castle''' is a [[Rock (geology)|stone]] structure created by the [[Latvia]]n-[[United States|American]] [[eccentricity (behavior)|eccentric]], [[Edward Leedskalnin]], north of the city of [[Homestead, Florida]] at the intersection of [[U.S. Route 1]] ([[South Dixie Highway]]) and Southwest 288th Street (Biscayne Drive). The structure comprises numerous [[megalithic]] stones (mostly [[coral]]), each weighing several [[Short ton|ton]]s.
==History==
As is noted in Joe Bullard's work, ''Waiting for Agnes'', Leedskalnin was jilted by his 16-year-old fiancée Agnes Scuffs in [[Latvia]], just one day before the wedding. Leaving for [[United States|America]], he came down with terminal [[tuberculosis]] but spontaneously healed, stating that magnets had some effect on his disease.
Hoping to somehow impress Scuffs, he spent over 28 years building the ''Coral Castle'', refusing to allow anyone to view him while he worked. A few teenagers, who secretly witnessed his work, reported that he had caused the blocks of coral to move like [[hydrogen]] balloons. The only tool that Leedskalnin spoke of using was a "perpetual motion holder."
[[Image:Originalcoralcastle.jpg|left|200px]]
Leedskalnin originally built the castle, which he named ''Rock Gate Park,'' in [[Florida City]], FL around 1923. He purchased the land from Ruben Moser whose wife helped assist him when he had a very bad bout with tuberculosis. [http://www.floridacityfl.us/history.htm] Florida City is the southernmost city in the United States that is not on an island and borders the [[Florida Everglades]]. It was an extremely remote ___location with very little development at the time. The castle remained in Florida City until about 1936 when Leedskalnin decided to move and take the castle with him. Noone knows for sure why Leedskalnin decided to relocate. The Coral Castle website states that he chose to move in order to protect his privacy when discussion about developing land in the area of the castle started.[http://www.coralcastle.com/biography.asp] The second commonly held notion was that he wanted to relocate to a more populous locale after being badly beaten one night by hooligans looking to rob him.[http://www.wormwoodchronicles.com/lab/coralcastle/coralcastle.html] He spent three years moving the Coral Castle structures ten miles north from Florida City to its current ___location in Homestead, FL.
Leedskalnin continued to work on the castle up until his death in 1951. The coral pieces that are part of the newer castle and were not among those transported from the original ___location were quarried on the property only feet away from the southern walls.
Leedskalnin would charge ten cents a head to give tours of the grounds. There was a sign at the front gate to "Ring Bell Twice" and a second sign "Adm. 10c Drop Below". He would come down from his living quarters which were the second story of the castle tower and are close to the gate and conduct the tour. Leedskalnin would never tell anyone who asked how he made the castle. He would simply answer "It's not difficult if you know how." If asked why he had made this castle, Leedskalnin would vaguely answer it was for his "Sweet Sixteen."
When Leedskalnin became ill in December 1951, he put a sign on the door of the front gate "Going to the Hospital" and took the bus to a Miami hospital. The doctors discovered Leedskalnin was suffering from malnutrition. He would pass away in the hospital three days later.
While investigating the property $3,500 was found among Leedskalnin's personal blongings. Leedskalnin had made his income from conducting tours, selling pamphlets about various subjects (including magnetic currents) and the sale of a portion of his ten acre property for the construction of US 1 Highway.[http://www.coralcastle.com/biography.asp] Having no [[Will]], the castle became the property of his closest living relative in America, a nephew from Michigan.
The Coral Castle website reports that the nephew was in poor health and he would sell the castle to an Illinois family in 1953. However this story differs from the obituary of a former Coral Castle owner, Julius Levin, a retired jeweler from Chicago, IL. The obituary states he had purchased the land from the state of Florida in 1952 and may not have been aware there was even a castle on the land.[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3993728.html] The new owners would change the name of Rock Gate Park to Coral Castle and turn it into a tourist attraction.[http://www.southflorida.com/visitor/19583,0,3056497.venue]
In January of 1981, the castle was sold for $175,000 to the Coral Castle, Inc.[http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/public-records/image.asp?page=1&cfn_master_id=9511263#image] They remain the owners today.
In 1984, [[The National Register of Historic Places]] added ''Rock Gate'', also known as Coral Castle, to its list of historic places.[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/FL/Dade/districts.html]
==The Castle==
[[Image:Coral Castle 3.jpg|right|275px]]The grounds of Coral Castle consist of 1,100 tons of stones found in the forms of walls, carvings, furniture and a castle tower. While commonly referred to as being made up of coral, it is actually made of [[Oolite]], aka Oolitic Limestone. Oolite is a sedimentary rock comprised of fossilized coral. Oolite is commonly found in Southern Florida and is only covered by several inches of topsoil at the Coral Castle site.
Many of the features and carvings of the castle are notable. Among them are a two-story castle tower that served as Leedskalnin's living quarters, walls consisting entirely of eight foot high pieces of coral, an accurate [[sun dial]], a [[Polaris]] [[telescope]], an [[obelisk]] with the [[Star of Latvia]], a barbecue, a [[water well]], a [[fountain]], celestial stars and planets, and numerous pieces of furniture. The furniture pieces included are a heart-shaped table, a table in the shape of Florida, twenty-five [[rocking chairs]], chairs resembling [[quarter moon]]s, a bathtub, beds and a royal [[throne]].
What is most remarkable about the contents of the Coral Castle is the massive size of the stones used in the construction. Even more so when you consider the assembly was performed by one man with crude tools. The stones on average weigh more than any stone found in the [[Pyramids of Egypt]]. The largest stone weighs 30 tons. Two of the stones are twenty-five foot high which make them taller than [[Stonehenge]].
[[Image:9tongate.jpg|left|400px]]A nine-ton revolving gate is the most famous structure of the castle and was documented on TV's [[In Search Of]], and [[That's Incredible!]] The gate is carved so precisely that it fits within a quarter of an inch of the walls on both sides. It was so well-balanced that a child could open it with the push of a single finger. The mystery of the gate's perfectly balanced axis and the amazing ease it revolved lasted for decades until the gate suddenly stopped working in 1986. At that time, a team of engineers was brought in for consultation. In order to remove the gate, six men and a fifty ton crane were utilized. Once the gate was removed, the engineers discovered how Leedskalnin had centered and balanced the nine-ton piece of rock. Leedskalnin had drilled a hole from top to bottom of the eight-foot-tall gate with no electric tools and inserted a metal shaft. The rock rested on an old truck bearing. It was the rusting out of this bearing that resulted in the gate's failure to revolve. The nine-ton gate, complete with new bearings, and a replaced shaft was lifted and set back into place on July 23rd, 1986.[http://www.coralcastle.com/9tonbig.htm] The gate worked as it did before but once again in 2005 it ceased revolving and has yet to be repaired.
==Controversy surrounding its construction==
[[Image:coralcastlelift1.jpg|right|250px]]The structure is considered mysterious by some, mainly because it is often said that one man assembled the entire structure. Leedskalnin seems to have gone to great lengths to ensure that he was not observed working. The Castle's official site states that "Ed did much of his work at night by lantern light. The Coral Castle has numerous lookouts along the Castle walls that were designed to help protect his privacy." [http://www.coralcastle.com/biography.asp]
There are various theories that hold that Leedskalnin constructed the Castle using some unknown form of science. For example, one website claims that "Ed Leedskalnin left behind the blueprints of nature,
a Secret Knowledge of the Ancients" [http://www.coralcastlecode.com/] Such theories seem to discount evidence such as photographs which exist showing Leedskalnin working apparently using traditional methods [http://www.geocities.com/anti_gravity/Coral_Castle/photos_3.html].
There is skepticism as to the success of the traditional methods of tripods and chains that are in the photographs of Leedskalnin working though! Skeptics point out that the Tripods appear to only rise about 20 feet while the largest stones are 25 feet long and stand vertical. The 3/8" thick chains that can still be found in the Tool Room of the Castle Tower and are seen in the photographs are only rated with a 3.5 ton workload and would not be able to support the weight of the stones.[http://www.gizapower.com/Coral%20Castle/coralcastle.html]
The Coral Castle site states that "if anyone ever questioned Ed about how he moved the blocks of coral, Ed would only reply that he understood the laws of weight and leverage well." [http://www.coralcastle.com/biography.asp] He also stated that he had "discovered the secrets of the pyramids" [http://www.livescience.com/history/060328_coral_castle.html], which of course could be interpreted in either esoteric or engineering terms.
The Coral Castle site claims that "[Ed Leedskalnin] has baffled engineers and scientists!" [http://www.coralcastle.com/biography.asp] However a skeptical website claimed that "despite the information on their Web site, the Coral Castle information booth was unable to identify a single scientist or engineer who had specifically examined the castle" [http://www.livescience.com/history/060328_coral_castle.html].
==Trivia==
[[Billy Idol]] wrote and recorded the song "[[Sweet Sixteen (Billy Idol song)|Sweet Sixteen]]" and filmed the video in the ''Coral Castle''. The song was inspired by the story of Leedskalnin's former love, Agnes Scuffs, who was the main reason Leedskalnin built the structure.
Contemporary Christian artist Andrew Peterson recorded a song entitled "The Coral Castle" as an unrequited love song from the point of view of Edward. It can be found on his album "Carried Along".
The New York-based band [[Piñataland]] wrote a song about Leedskalnin and the Coral Castle, called "Latvian Bride".
[[The Wild Women of Wongo]] used the Coral Castle for their dragon-god temple in the eponymous 1958 film.
==External links==
* [http://www.waitingforagnes.com Bullard's book on the building of ''Coral Castle''] (Selling site)
* [http://www.coralcastle.com/ ''The Coral Castle Homepage'']
* [http://www.coralcastlecode.com/ Coral Castle Code website by Jon De'Pew]
* [http://www.livescience.com/history/060328_coral_castle.html Skeptical Inquirer article about ''Coral Castle'' posted on livescience.com]
* [http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa071999.htm About.Com (Paranormal) article about Edward Leedskalnin and his ''Coral Castle'']
[[Category:Visitor attractions in Greater Miami]]
[[Category:Castles in the United States]]
[[Category:Novelty architecture]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in the United States]]
[[Category:Roadside attractions]]
[[fr:Château de Corail]]
[[it:Coral castle]]
[[fi:Coral Castle]]
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