Emily Chan
One of the most fascinating and unusual attractions in Homestead, Florida, is Coral Castle. The monument is made of 1,100 tons of stony coral, which means it weighs about 2.2. million pounds.
The rock features razor-sharp edges that do not make them ideal building materials. Its construction remains one of Florida’s biggest mysteries.
Legend has it that a man named Edward Leedskalnin singlehandedly built the castle in the early 1900s. It took him nearly three decades to complete.
However, he was only 100 pounds and barely over five feet tall. As a result, many people found it difficult to believe that he was responsible for moving and carving so much stony coral.
Leedskalnin claimed that he had learned the ways of those who built the pyramids, but others think that black magic was involved. Experts still argue over the methods that were used to construct Coral Castle.
In 1919, Edward Leedskalnin, a Latvia native, moved to Florida City after his wedding was called off. He had planned to marry 16-year-old Agnes Skuvst and take her to America with him. At the time, he was around 30-years-old.
But, just a day before the festivities were supposed to take place, she backed out of the wedding. It is unclear why she didn’t go through with the marriage.
In 1923, Leedskalnin began creating Coral Castle. In 1936, he began a three-year process of moving the castle to a plot of land he bought 10 miles away in the remote region of Homestead. Without the aid of modern construction tools and equipment or any hired help, he somehow managed to move over two million pounds of stony coral.
The material he used was commonly known as “stony coral,” but it is really called Oolitic limestone, which can be found throughout southeastern Florida. Its abundance must have been why Leedskalnin chose it for his castle. He spent nearly three decades building this monument for his lost love in the hopes of winning her back.
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