The Colossus of Rhodes was the youngest of the seven ancient wonders with the 12-year construction being completed in 282 BC.
The 110 ft colossus was cast in
bronze and stood on a huge white marble plinth on the eastern promontory of the
Mandraki harbour by the entrance of the port on the beautiful Mediterranean
island of Rhodes and contrary to popular belief the Colossus did not straddle
the mouth of the harbour.
The huge bronze statue of the sun god
Helios was cast by the Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos to celebrate the
lifting of the siege of Rhodes by the Antigonids of Macedonia.
Not only was the colossus the
youngest wonder it was also the most short lived only surviving for 56 years
before it was felled by a severe earthquake in 226 BC that badly damaged the
city.
The statue lay broken in ruins on the
ground where it fell for almost a thousand years until the Arabs invaded Rhodes
in 654 AD who sold the bonze remains to a Syrian Jew who had them transported
home reportedly on 900 camels.
Although it physically survived for
little more than half a century such was the statues magnificence it survived
in people’s hearts and minds sufficiently to elevate it to become one of the seven
wonders.
Even though we have no way of knowing
the exact appearance of the Colossus it has none the less influenced other
great artists over the centuries such as the great French sculptor Auguste
Bartholdi best known for the Statue of Liberty.
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