Colossus of Rhodes in the list of seven wonders of the world

A magnificent list of seven wonders of the world was compiled 2000 years ago by a Greek scribe. He believed that they could not be destroyed. The modern world still fascinates this magic list. Colossus of Rhodes takes an honorable place in it. The people of the island erected this statue in gratitude to God Helios for intercession during the yearly siege of the city by a forty-thousand-strong army.

Where is the Colossus of Rhodes?

Now it's nowhere. But, as already mentioned, according to legend, it was erected on the island of Rhodes and was seen far from the sea. It was here, according to the testimony of ancient writers, there was a statue: the second sun met face to face with the first. It was established around 280 BC. E. A pupil of Lysippos, sculptor Cares. And although after more than 60 years Colossus of Rhodes fell, they say that even the ruins on earth impressed. In the end, the statue was destroyed by Arab soldiers and sold to Syria on stones. Today it is impossible to find even traces on the place where it stood. Classical scientists claim that statues of this type, as a rule, were located behind the temple. But in Rhodes the temple of Helios is on the top of a hill in the center of the city, and there were no traces of the Colossus there. Though thanks to this statement it was possible to open another, no less important fact. It turned out that the huge walls of the times of the Colossus surround the city and descend to the port. This proves that the harbor of the island of Rhodes is largely of an artificial origin. And this means that the statue of the Colossus of Rhodes could be the end of the harbor wall, as in other ancient artificial harbors. She could not block the entrance to it. For this, it should be a quarter of a mile high. But neither metal nor stone can withstand the stress that winter storms exert. Today at the end of the harbor wall stands the medieval fortress of St. Nicholas. Half it is made of stones, hewn in ancient times. If you look closely at the pieces of marble, which served as building material for this small fortress, you can understand that they were engraved by the masters of the times of the Colossus of Rhodes. In the Middle Ages, people found a new use for them. The most interesting thing about these stones is that they are not square. Each of them is a fragment of the 17-meter circle, it has curvatures. 17 meters is the exact diameter of the tower inside a small fortress. It is possible that medieval architects began to build directly on the ancient foundation, which serves as a pedestal for the fallen statue.

What was Colossus of Rhodes like and how was it made?

The Chronicler, at the time of which the statue was still standing, says that it was built on the same principle as the house. Fragments of other ancient figures demonstrate that they were built as masterfully as Zeus Phidias. Fragment behind a fragment of a skeleton from a steel and a stone. Covered Colossus of Rhodes was bronze sheets. As for the posture, in fact, no one knows whether he was standing, sitting or, for example, driving a chariot. Although, you can try to find some hints in a copy of the statue made by Lysippos himself from marble for Alexander. But, most likely, the Colossus was not as tired and pompous as the old Hercules. Rather, it was a young man with a beautiful face, the same as the head of an unnamed statue found in Rhodes, which gives us a new understanding. The peculiarity of this fragment is the presence of a set of identical holes in a circle. If you insert the pins in them, you can see that they diverge symmetrically, like the sun's rays on the statue of Helios, that is, it is most likely his head. In addition, it dates (within plus or minus 100 years) the same time as the creation of the Colossus. If you look closely at the face, you can see the same half-open mouth, turned neck, open eyes. Alone in one Alexander the Great. That is the same school of sculptors, which was built Colossus of Rhodes, created and the image of the king, who later bypassed the whole world.