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The Colossus Of Rhodes

A great wonder is built in honor of the sun god Helios on the island of Rhodes in Greece:

www.wondersoftheworld.com                    The Ancient Times                        A long time ago

A Description Of This Great
Wonder

It is generally believed that the Colossus stood straddling the mouth of the Mandraki harbor (see picture at right), but this would have been impossible, since after the Colossus fell it would have blocked the harbor's entrance. Recent studies suggest that it was built on the eastern promontory of the harbor.(see picture, bottom right)

This great statue was constructed with a thick copper skin supported by an iron frame. Its base was a huge block of marble and the inside was filled with a concrete-like substance.

When it was finished it stood about 33 meters high and when it fell "Few people could make their arms meet round the thumb", wrote a bystander.

A Monument of Thanks

As we all know not too long ago the Antigonads of Macedonia came to Rhodes and besieged the city in an attempt to break our alliance with Egypt. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get into our city! When we finally reached a peace agreement the Antigonads lifted their siege and left behind a ton of expensive military equipment. We sold the extra equipment and bought a great amount of building materials. Using these we built a gigantic statue in thanks to our god Helios, who without his divine help, we couldn't have won the war.



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