Coral Castle

In Homestead, Florida stands Coral Castle—a strange, poetic, and otherworldly structure made of over 1,000 tons of coral stone. Built by Latvian immigrant Ed Leedskalnin, the castle was constructed entirely by hand—without machinery, assistance, or blueprints. What drove him? As you described from your visit: tapt kjærlighet. At 26, Ed was jilted by his 16-year-old fiancée Agnes, whom he called his “Sweet Sixteen.” He never moved on. Instead, he dedicated his life to building a stone castle in her honour.

The place is filled with gyngestoler, senger, bord, troner, brønner, teleskoper, måner og astrologiske symboler. There's even a replica of a Stonehenge stone and mysterious six-pointed stars throughout the grounds. Each element was built for a future he never got to live—chairs for himself, Agnes, future children, and even a mother-in-law.

Ed worked alone, mostly at night. He was just over 1.5 metres tall, and yet moved and carved stones weighing up to 30 tons. To this day, no one fully understands how. When asked how he did it, Ed only replied that he had discovered the secrets of the pyramids. Some believe he used magnetism or even telekinesis. Whatever the truth, Coral Castle remains one of the world’s great architectural enigmas.

You first encountered Coral Castle in the odd sci-fi exploitation film Nude on the Moon—where the moon is Coral Castle and ruled by topless women communicating via thought. But it was Billy Idol’s hit song “Sweet Sixteen” that truly immortalised Ed’s sorrowful devotion in pop culture.

Ed died alone. He never reunited with Agnes. But he left behind a monument of haunting beauty, eccentric genius, and one of the strangest love letters ever carved in stone.