Ancient Explorers – The Coral Castle of Homestead, Florida just may be the greatest one-man engineering feat of modern times. But while this odd, mostly open-air “castle” is contemporary, it shares something with one of the world’s greatest architectural mystery: Giza’s pyramids.

Why? Because just like those ancient edifices, the construction of Coral Castle is shrouded in mystery.

Magnetism Meets Eccentric Immigrant

Between the early 1920’s and 1950’s, a Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin built and then moved one of the greatest wonders of architecture in modern times: Coral Castle. Leedskalnin built the Castle with nothing more than an ancient understanding of magnetism.

How he built and then moved this monument from stone – single-handedly – defies our modern-day understanding of physics. What we do know is that he claimed to use magnetism and “the secrets of the pyramid builders”.

An 1,100-Ton Secret Taken to His Grave

Born on January 12, 1887, in Stāmeriena parish, Livonia, Leedskalnin was known for two things: Coral Castle and his fascination with Magnetism. In fact, as a student of magnetism, he applied his knowledge to understanding how ancient civilizations were able to build megalithic structures such as Stonehenge and of course, the pyramids of the Giza plateau.

Leedskalnin was diagnosed with terminaltuberculosis shortly after the turn of the 20th century, but spontaneously healed, stating that magnets had some effect on his disease. He then moved to Florida in 1919 where he began constructing the massive coral monument he called Rock Gate Park. Over the next 20 years, Leedskalnin moved some 1,100 tons (over 2 million pounds) of pure quarry rock to create his masterpiece. Continue reading →