The Endless Column

Inaugurated on October 27, 1938, the Endless Column has a height of 29.35 meters and is composed of 15 octahedral modules, and a half module each at the lower and upper extremities.

The total weight of the Column is 29,173 kg, being cast in cast iron at the Central Workshops in Petroșani, the technical solution being given by the engineer Ștefan Popescu Gorjean, who also coordinated the works to raise the monument.

A history in photos that are part of the Gorj archive describes step by step the raising of the Column, starting with the location, pouring the foundation and embedding the central pillar and, then, fixing the overlapping elements, or the "beads" as Brâncusi called them. It was a brilliant work of metal engineering, considering that the elements are not fixed by welds to the post or to each other, the entire construction standing upright only by the weight of the modules.

The construction of the Endless Column began in mid-August 1937 in Petroşani and ended in November of the same year in Târgu-Jiu. The brazing of the Column was done in the months of June-July on site, applying brass wire by spraying. This technology was used at that time for the first time in Romania and was specially brought from Switzerland.

The sculpture, similar to the house pillars of the Gorj priests, is also a stylization of the funeral columns specific to southern Romania. Its original name was the Column of Endless Gratitude, and it apothetically concludes the monumental Ensemble "The Path of Heroes" with the idea that, after the earthly life, the hero's soul rises to the infinite life in the heavens. The last element of the Column is a semi-module suggesting the continuation of the Column to infinity and life in eternity.

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