Pole sitting is the practice of sitting on top of a pole as a test of endurance. A small platform is typically placed at the top of the pole for the sitter. Led by the stunt actor and former sailor Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, flagpole sitting was a fad in the mid-to-late 1920s, but mostly died out after the start of the Great Depression.
A pole sitter in Amsterdam in 1979
14-year-old William Ruppert breaking the pole sitting record of 23 days, in 1929
A stylite or pillar-saint is a type of Christian ascetic who lives on pillars, preaching, fasting and praying. Stylites believe that the mortification of their bodies would help ensure the salvation of their souls. Stylites were common in the early days of the Byzantine Empire. The first known stylite was Simeon Stylites the Elder who climbed a pillar in Syria in 423 and remained there until his death 37 years later.
Icon of Simeon Stylites the Elder with Simeon Stylites the Younger. Simeon the Elder appears to be shown at the left stepping down from his pillar in obedience to the monastic elders; the image may also reference a point in his life when, due to an ulcerous leg, he was forced to stand atop his pillar on one leg only.[1] At right is represented Simeon Stylites the Younger (also known as 'St. Simeon of the Admirable Mountain').
This tower in Um er-Rasas, Jordan, has been interpreted as a stylite column.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote an 1841 poem "St Simeon Stylites", illustrated here by W. E. F. Britten.
