The Coral Castle of Florida

Located just outside Miami is an edifice worth exploring for all purveyors and aficionados of the strange and unusual, the Coral Castle. It isn’t really a “castle,” as it doesn’t have a roof. Only one small two-story building, a part of the overall structure, has a roof on it, or floors. It would be more accurate to call it a monument or a monolith. Carved out of oolithic limestone, a sedimentary rock comprised of shells, coral, and such, the structure contains numerous mysterious symbols and exotic carvings of heavenly bodies, cyclopean walls, chairs and tables sculpted from stone, a telescope that always is focused on the North Star, Polaris, and a sundial accurate down to the minute.

Coral Castle, the inspiration for the Billy Idol song “Sweet Sixteen,” would be an oddity worth seeing even if not for the mystery surrounding it. What’s the mystery? How a 100-pound, five-foot-tall man could build it ALL BY HIMSELF. An eccentric and brilliant immigrant from Latvia, Edward Leedskalni, over the course of some three decades, constructed the Castle without any help and without any kind of modern equipment. Working only at night, never allowing anyone to witness him work, Edward claimed to have discovered the secret means by which the ancient Egyptians constructed the pyramids. How else could one diminutive man (with a fourth grade education) lift and move stones outweighing any of those used in the construction of Stonehenge? Occam’s Razor tells us that the simplest explanation to any query is typically the correct one, but in this case even the “rational” explanation strains credulity. How did he DO it?

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: