Coral Castle

Coral Castle Review

Driven by unrequited love, 100-pound Latvian immigrant Ed Leedskalnin (1887-1951) built this castle in the early 1900s out of massive slabs of coral rock, a feat he likened to the building of the pyramids. Visitors can learn how he peopled his fantasy world with his imaginary wife and three children, studied astronomy, and created a simple home and elaborate courtyard with no engineering education and tools he mostly fashioned himself. Highlights of this National Register of Historic Places site include the Polaris telescope built to spot the North Star, a working sundial, a 5,000-pound heart-shape table featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not, a banquet table in the shape of Florida, and a playground Ed named "Grotto of the Three Bears."