Living Rock: Massive Monuments Sculpted in Situ

"Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota"
Image Credit

Although the USA is a comparative newcomer to massive sculptures which have been carved in situ, Mount Rushmore is among the most famous statues in the world and will no doubt withstand the millennia as it was designed to do. When finished, however, the Crazy Horse Memorial should be the largest sculpture in the world and stand over one hundred and seventy two meters (that’s five hundred and sixty three feet). In other words, it will be almost ten times taller than each of the Presidents’ heads at Rushmore. Started in 1948, it remains unfinished and there is no date which has been fixed for its completion either. The face, however, was completed in 1998. LINK

Massive Monuments Sculpted In Situ

"Decebalus, Orsova"
The world never stands still and gigantic sculptures are still being teased from the rock. The former communist country of Romania is no exception and here they have chosen to honor Decebalus. Translating as "The Brave One" was a king of the Dacians and fought many a war against the Roman Empire. It is thought that the far more famous Spartacus was himself a Dacian, so you know now how tough these people were! The historian Iosif Constantin Drăgan funded twelve sculptors to the tune of over a million dollars. After ten years of hard graft it was completed in 2004. It stands opposite an almost two thousand year old plaque commemorating Roman victories against the Dacians. How is that for unequivocal defiance millennia later? LINK