The original Colossus stood for only 56 years.
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the original Colossus of Rhodes would have been a sight to behold. Standing 30 meters tall, the exact appearance of the statue has long been lost in the mists of time but according to surviving records it was a “glistening naked man” wearing a cape over one shoulder and carrying both a torch and a spear in its hands.
Sadly though the Colossus was destroyed by an earthquake after standing for only 56 years.
Its remains were believed to have been left at the site for over nine centuries before the metal was eventually recovered and recycled following the Arab invasion in 654AD.
Now however it looks as though the famed statue could rise again – or at least a modern take on it.
An international group of architects is looking for online funding to help construct a huge 150-meter “re-imagining” of the Colossus based on the ambitions of its original builders.
To bring the statue in to the modern age its outer skin would be covered in solar panels and its interior would serve as a library and a museum housing archaeological finds from the island.
This isn’t the first time such an endeavor has been proposed either – back in 2,000 something similar had been planned but due to a lack of financial support it ended up being scrapped.
“The determined aim is very ambitious: to rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes, the God of Sun, taking into consideration the modern standards,” the project’s organizers write.
“The purpose of the project is not to propose a copy of the original, bronze, 40 meters high structure, but to arouse the same emotions that visitors felt, more than 2200 years ago.”
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