Coral Castle (USA)

The builder of the Coral Castle - Edward Lidskalnin - was born on January 12, 1887 (according to another version - August 10) ^[1] in the territory of modern Latvia ^[2] . Little is known about his childhood. He was not rich and finished school only until the fourth grade, then he studied stone carving and stone carving. Many relatives of Lidskalnin were involved in fierce peasant unrest in Livonia province in 1905.

In 1910 , Leedskalnin left Latvia. According to his own version of fame, this happened after he became engaged to a sixteen-year-old girl named Agnes Skuff or Skuvst (mostly Agnes Skuvst ; most often Leedskalnin called her “Sweet Sixteen,” Sweet Sixteen ), which broke the engagement the night before their wedding. It was established, however, that in reality the girl's name was Jermine Luse ( Latvian: Hermīne Lūse ), and she was only two years younger than the groom; it is assumed that the bride’s father prevented the wedding from receiving the promised money from the groom. It is assumed that the bride's last name, invented by Lidskalnin, is a slightly modified Latvian word meaning a kiss ( Latvian. Skūpsts ) ^[3] . According to the press, he several times invited her to come to his castle, but she always refused him. She didn’t come even at the age of 80 (many years after Ed’s death), when American journalists tracked her down and suggested she visit the building ^[4] . Until now, red roses are planted in the castle, allegedly the favorite flowers of the very Agnes.

Leedskalnin originally settled in London , a year later moved to Canadian Halifax , and since 1912 he lived in the United States, moving from Oregon to California , and from there to Texas , working in timber harvesting camps. Leedskalnin is not in good health, and after becoming ill with tuberculosis ^[1] he moves to Florida , where a good climate helps him more easily tolerate the progressive form of the disease. During his wanderings around the world he is fond of the study of sciences, astronomy and the history of Ancient Egypt ^[5] .

The construction of the castle began in 1920 after Lidskalnin bought for $ 12 a small (4 acres ) plot of land in the town of Florida City ( Florida ) with a population of 8 thousand people. Edward himself called his creation - Rock Gate Park ^[4] ("Stone Gate"), the name "Coral Castle" will later be given to the construction by neighbors and tourists. The construction was carried out in the strictest confidence. To avoid prying eyes and not reveal his secrets, Edward worked alone and only after sunset. It remains unknown how he single-handedly delivered from the Gulf of Mexico multi-ton limestone blocks weighing several tens of tons, processed them and set them on top of each other.

In 1936, it was planned to build a multi-storey residential building on the site adjacent to Lidskalnin. In this regard, Edward decides to move his structure to another place ^[6] . He buys a new plot 16 km north of Florida City in the city of Homestead, hires a truck, with the help of which he transports his creation to a new place. At the same time, the truck loads and unloads again, itself, without witnesses ^[7] . It took Lidskalnin 3 years to completely move all the buildings and build them in a new place. In Homestead, Edward continued to build the castle until his death in 1951 ^[8] .

After the death of Leedskalnina, the castle became the property of his closest living relative in America - a nephew from Michigan named Harry. In 1953, Harry sold the plot to jeweler Julius Levin ^[9] , who, in turn, sold it to Coral Castle, Inc for $ 175,000 (1981). It is this company that owns the castle today, turning it into a museum and tourist attraction in Florida. In 1984, by decision of the American government, Coral Castle was included in the National Register of Historic Sites of the country ^[4] . About 100,000 tourists visit it annually ^[5] .

Castle

Although the castle is called “coral”, in fact it is made of oolite or oolitic limestone . Oolite is a mineral formation from calcium carbonate, iron and manganese oxides and other elements; may include localized concentration of fossil shells, corals. This material is often found throughout southeast Florida (by the way, these stones have a very sharp surface and cut their hands like a knife).

The castle complex includes a large number of buildings and structures. The main dominant is a two-story square tower weighing 243 tons ^[10] . Edward used the first floor of the tower for workshops, the second for living quarters. A pavilion with a bath and a well is built near the tower.

The territory of the castle is decorated with various stone sculptures, including a stone map of Florida, the planets Mars and Saturn (weigh 18 tons each), a 23-ton month, a sundial that can be used to determine the time to the minute, a huge table in the shape of a heart, armchairs - rocking chairs, fountain and much more. The tallest building of the Coral Castle is a 12-meter obelisk, weighing 28.5 tons. Edward carved several dates on the obelisk: the year of his birth, as well as the years of the beginning of the construction and relocation of the castle (see illustration above). The heaviest monolith weighing more than 30 tons (more than the average weight of stones in the famous Stonehenge ^[11] and in the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt ^[5] ), serves as one of the blocks of the northern wall. The so-called telescope weighs about 30 tons, the pipe of which reaches a height of 7 meters and is directed at the North Star . The total weight of all buildings is estimated at 1100 tons ^[12] .

Gate

The only gates lead to the castle. This is the most amazing building construction. With a leaf width of 2 meters, a height of 2.3 meters, a thickness of 0.5 meters and a weight of 9 tons, it is so balanced that a small child can open it. A large number of television reports and articles in the print press were devoted to gates and their arrangement ^[8] . Engineers were trying to understand how Leedskalnin was able to find the ideal center of gravity , allowing you to open the gate with minimal effort ^[5] .

In 1986, the gate stopped opening. It took six men and a 50-ton crane to dismantle them. Under them was a shaft and a bearing from a truck. As it turned out, Leedskalnin, without the use of electric tools, drilled an almost perfect round hole in the thickness of the limestone. Over decades of rotation of the gate, the old bearing was covered with rust, and this was the reason for their failure ^[7] . After replacing the bearing and shaft, the gate was hoisted into place. A similar repair was made in 2005.

The uniqueness of the building, the secrecy in its construction and the fact that only one person built a 152 cm tall and weighing 45 kg built a huge castle, gave rise to a huge number of theories and versions regarding the technologies that Edward Liedskalnin used. According to one version, Edward punched holes in the limestone slabs, into which he then inserted old automobile shock absorbers , heated to high temperatures. Then, allegedly, he poured cold water on them and the shock absorbers split the stone ^[6] . According to another version, Leedskalni used electromagnetic resonance . A strange device discovered on the castle’s territory allegedly speaks in favor of this version ^[13] . It has been suggested that with his help, Edward could get an electromagnetic field , reducing the weight of huge stones to almost zero ^[10] .

Another version that “explains” the mystery of the building’s construction was expressed by Ray N. Stoner in his book “ The Enigma of Coral Castle ”. He believes that the Latvian architect held the secret of anti-gravity management. According to his theory, our planet is covered with some kind of energy grid and at the intersection of its “lines of force” there is a concentration of energy that makes it possible to easily move even very heavy objects ^[14] . According to Stoner, it is in South Florida, where Ed built his castle, and there is a powerful diamagnetic pole, thanks to which Ed managed to overcome the forces of gravity, creating a levitation effect .

There are also versions according to which Edward used occult abilities to control the forces of nature, torsion fields ^[4] , sound waves , and the castle itself was erected at the old UFO landing site ^[15] .

Lidskalnin himself never revealed his secret, and answering all questions, “I discovered the secret of the builders of the pyramids !” ^[12] , adding only once to this phrase: “I learned how the Egyptians and ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan and Asia under using primitive tools they lifted and installed stone blocks weighing many tons! ”

During his life, he published 5 brochures, including: “The Life of Minerals, Plants, and Animals,” “Magnetic Flux,” and “Magnetic Base.” These works are carefully studied by researchers in the hope that an eccentric architect could leave hints in them to reveal his secrets. For example, in Magnetic Flux, he wrote:

A magnet is a substance that constantly circulates in metals. But every particle in this substance is itself a tiny magnet. They are so small that there are no barriers for them. To pass through metal is even easier for them than through air. Magnets are in constant motion. If you direct this movement in the right direction, you can get a source of huge energy ... ^[14]

If we discard everything related to energy sources and assume that all the stone structures were simply made in the form of pouring concrete products, this would greatly simplify the principle of solutions.

• British rock musician Billy Idol wrote the song " Sweet Sixteen ", dedicated to the story of Edward's love for Agness. In the first seconds of the clip for this composition, you can see a photograph of the architect on the background of his creation and the caption: “Love turned to stone” (English “Love turned to stone”) ^[16] .
• Ed Leedskalnin, Coral Castle and the mystery surrounding its construction formed the basis of the plot of the novel “ Cincinnatus ”.
• Piñataland Group recorded a song about Leedskalnina - “Latvian Bride” (“Latvian Bride”).
• Filming took place on the castle’s territory: Wild Women of Wongo (1958) and Nude on the Moon (1961).

• The technique of building the Egyptian pyramids

• Chernobrov V.A. Encyclopedia of the mysterious places of the world. - Moscow: Veche, 2004. - 213 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-9533-0232-0 .
• John Martin CORAL CASTLE CONSTRUCTION - How One Man Created a Megalithic Wonder. - 2012. - ISBN 978-0988429703 .
• Ray N. Stoner. The Enigma of Coral Castle. - Bradford Institute of Ultra Science. - 1983.
• Rusty McClure, Jack Heffron (Author. Coral Castle: The Story of Ed Leedskalnin and his American Stonehenge. - Ternary Publishing, 2009 .-- ISBN 978-0984213214 .

• Coral Castle (USA ) . Geographic Names Information System (USA) , US Geological Survey .
• Official site of the Coral Castle
• Machine translation of Ed Lidskalnin's Magnetic Flux brochure
• Brochure by Ed Lidskalnin “Mineral, Plant and Animal Life”
• Fragment of a documentary dedicated to Coral Castle