11/08/2016
Cristo Redentor (Christ The Redeemer) is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. It's 30 meters (98ft) tall excluding the 8 meters (26ft) pedestal. The arms stretch 28 meters (92ft) wide.
It weighs 635 metric tons and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and took 9 years to construct between 1922 and 1931.
A local priest -Pedro Maria- had this initial thought in the 1850s but the idea was never approved. It was then brought up again by a group called "The Catholic Circle of Rio". This is the 3rd tallest statue of Jesus in the world after Poland’s Christ the King and Bolivia’s Cristo de la Concordia. It was a pretty expensive venture costing approx. $250,000 which is equivalent to about Kshs 320M today.
In 2003 escalators and elevators were introduced to make it convenient for visitors. The best time to see this wonder is either in the evening or at night as it presents a sparking view of the city.
Maintenance work needs to be conducted periodically due to the strong winds and erosion to which the statue is exposed, as well as lightning strikes. The original pale stone is no longer available in sufficient quantities, and replacement stones are increasingly darker in hue.
