Helena Smith in Athens
guardian.co.uk


Details from The Colossus of Rhodes, an 18th century engrvaing by George Balthasar Probst, from the Stapleton Collection. Photograph: Bridgeman Art Library

It may not straddle the port as its predecessor once did, but in terms of sheer luminosity and eye-catching height the new Colossus of Rhodes will not disappoint. Nor will it fall short of the symbolism that once imbued the ancient monument.

Twenty-three centuries after craftsmen carved the legendary statue that has inspired legions of painters, poets, playwrights and politicians, a new world wonder, built in the spirit of the original Colossus, is about to be born on the Aegean island.

After decades of dashed hopes, the people of Rhodes will fulfil a long-held dream to revive one of the world's seven ancient wonders - thanks to the promise of international funding and the East German artist Gert Hof.

"It will be a unique architectural creation," said the island's mayor, Hatzis Hatziefthimiou, presenting what is likely to become one of the 21st century's largest artistic projects in Dubai last week.

"We want to make it a work of global appeal and significance."

Like the original, erected in homage to the sun god Helios by the master sculptor Chares of Lindos, the new Colossus will adorn an outer pier in the harbour area of Rhodes, and be visible to passing ships.

And like its ancient namesake, the modern-day wonder will be dedicated to celebrating peace and built, at least in part, out of melted-down weapons from around the world.

But unlike the ancient Colossus, which stood 34 metres high before an earthquake toppled it in 226BC, the groundbreaking work of art is slated to be much taller and bigger. And unlike previous reconstruction efforts, officials say the Cologne-based design team is determined to avoid recreating a replica.

In the past, new Colossus aficionados have persistently run up against the objections of Greece's powerful lobby of archaeologists.

A proposal to recreate the legendary statue in the run-up to the 2004 Athens Olympics whipped up such controversy that opponents claimed its glitzy, we're-bigger-than-you overtones were not only offensive but defiled rather than boosted the country's cultural heritage.

"Monumental works can't be copied for the simple reason that they risk becoming caricatures," insisted Hatziefthimiou.

Instead, in the spirit of the 21st century the new Colossus has been conceived as a highly innovative light sculpture, a work of art that will allow visitors to physically inspect it by day as well as enjoy - through light shows - a variety of stories it will "tell" by night.

"We are talking about a highly, highly innovative light sculpture, one that will stand between 60 and 100 metres tall so that people can physically enter it," said Dr Dimitris Koutoulas, who is heading the project in Greece.

"Although we are still at the drawing board stage, Gert Hof's plan is to make it the world's largest light installation, a structure that has never before been seen in any place of the world."

The statue is also expected to cost up to €200m according to yesterday's Vima newspaper. But, in another first that has also been welcomed by the people of Rhodes, international organisations led by the World Trade Centre Association, a network of exporters who promote peace through trade, have weighed in with financial help.

"The new Colossus has been the dream of Rhodians for many years," said Yannis Hadzimarkos, president of the Dodecannese Islands' Chamber of Commerce which is also supporting the project. "It will be a marvellous opportunity for the economy of the region even if it is naive to think it will be easy."

Backstory

Carved by Chares of Lindon, one of antiquity's greatest sculptors, the original Colossus was erected in homage to the Sun god Helios. It is believed to have been about 120ft high on a 25ft white marble plinth (compared with the Statue of Liberty's 151ft on a 159ft plinth). For almost seven decades it stood over Rhodes before being destroyed by an earthquake in 226BC. In later years, its huge bronze and marble parts were carted off by Arab tradesmen. "Even lying on the ground, it is a marvel," wrote Pliny the Elder. It was so big, he said, that "few people can get their arms around its thumb". Although historians have spent years arguing about the wonder's exact location, artists have always depicted it straddling Rhodes' imposing harbour. Unlike the original statue, which took Chares 12 years to carve in situ, the new statue could be built in less than half that time if adequate funding is found, project organisers say. While the Statue of Liberty was built in France and then assembled in New York, the new Colossus is expected to be built by locals on the island. The Colossus was included in Sidon's list of the Seven Wonders of the World compiled some 2,137 years ago along with the Pyramids, the Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in modern Turkey, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Lighthouse at Alexandria.