Rebuilding the Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, an iron and bronze statue of the god Helios (sun), could be reborn.

Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (98 feet) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world, dominated the entrance of the harbor, of the Greek island, until an earthquake in 226 BC, destroyed it.

A team of scientists wants to rebuild the famous ancient statue with an internal museum, at the estimated cost of 240 to 260 millions euros and to be ready in four years.

Funding is expected to come from cultural institutions and international crowdfunding.

The idea of building a contemporary Colossus of Rhodes begun to arise in the ideas of some young professionals, after the break out of the economic crisis in Greece. As unemployment rose and destroyed dreams and ambitions of a whole generation, they tried to work together for a common purpose. Their main task was to make Rhodes a new point of reference for the whole world, to follow a new path and find a solution to the issues that caused such a big sorrow to thousands of people, forced to flee abroad.

With our work, we try to “put Rhodes again on the world map” and to restore its historical importance as a “cultural bridge” for three continents, attracting huge quantities of visitors every year. We suggest to build a modern construction, a modern Colossus, not to emulate the original sculpture but in order to give a small, subjective contribution to world history and to the economic growth of Rhodes and Greece.

The structure can be finished in 3-4 years, without preventing the boats to access the port. The total expense is about 240-260 millions euros, with a prevision of over 30 millions euros per year in incomes.

The ancient staute was located in the middle of the old town, on a podium, with its legs closed. The project doesn’t want to present again a copy of the original structure, 4o meters tall, made of bronze, but to make the visitor shiver and feel the same identical emotions that his ancestors felt looking at it for the first time, more than 2200 years ago. To recrate those feelings, the structure must be unique and original.