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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Mighty Colossus of Rhodes May Stand Again Over Greek Island

In the ancient world, there were many incredible statues erected for certain events or on behalf of powerful figures. Unfortunately, few (if any) of these still exist. There was the Colossus of Nero, the statue of Rameses II (better known as Ozymandias, courtesy of Percy Shelley and, most recently, "Breaking Bad"), and, of course, the Colossus of Rhodes. Odds are, you haven't thought about the Colossus of Rhodes since high school when you were forced to remember the Seven Wonders of the World for a history test. Luckily, there's a group of modern young professionals who are looking to bring it all back.  To refresh your memory, the Colossus of Rhodes, standing at 98 feet, was a bronze statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun Helios. It was located -- you guessed it -- on the Greek island of Rhodes and was erected by Chares of Lindos in 280 B.C. Sadly, in 226 B.C., an earthquake devastated the island and the statue was destroyed. Enter the _new_ Colossus of Rhodes. As per the website, Colossus of Rhodes 2.0 was an idea developed by architect Ari A. Palla after the recent economical turmoil erupted in Greece. Palla's idea led him to partner with an entire team comprising fellow architects, engineers, economists and public relations professionals from Spain, the U.K., Italy, and Greece to create the vision of the modern Colossus. At more than 150 staggering meters, Palla and his team's vision is that the new statue isn't a direct copy of the original. The goal is to evoke the same emotion in new visitors as it did for those who saw the original, and to drive tourism. They intend the statue to be a museum that houses "the hundreds of archaeological findings forgotten in the storerooms," something they believe will "have a 'Domino' effect in the economy." What's most fascinating about this project is how they plan to get it all done. Taking a page from Antoni Gaudí's book (you know, the guy behind the Sagrada Família who funded his project through private patrons), the team is planning to fund the entire project by crowdsourcing it through the Internet.  "Thanks to technology, people all around the world could be involved. Thus, the Colossus of Rhodes will become a 'global' monument," notes their website. The idea looks fascinating, but there's no word on when or how they're going to get the ball rolling on this just yet. Basically, don't hold your breath on this resurrection happening any time soon. In the meantime, feel free to watch their video on the project repeatedly. If the vision they have doesn't inspire you, then the dramatic music that accompanies it certainly will. _ALSO ON HUFFPOST:_ -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


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