10/25/2024
Sculpted by Guido Galletti, based on an idea of Italian diving instructor Duilio Marcante The first bronze statue was placed near the spot where Dario Gonzatti, the first Italian to use SCUBA gear, died in 1947. It depicts Christ offering a benediction of peace, with his head and hands raised skyward.
The third bronze statue, from the original mold, was presented to the Underwater Society of America in New York in 1962, and shipped by boat to Chicago, where it was set up for unveiling in the ballroom of the Palmer House Hotel at the Underwater Society of America 1962 convention. This copy of the original "Christ of the Abyss" was and is named "Christ of the Deep." On August 25, 1965, it was placed in approximately 25 feet (7.6 m) of water off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, near Dry Rocks, approximately six miles east of Key Largo in what was then in the waters of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The boundaries of the park changed in 1972, so the statue is now in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, just outside of John Pennekamp State Park. The statue is 9 feet tall, weighs around 1102 lbs., and the concrete base to which it is attached weighs approximately 42,000 lbs.
Silent World dive centers offer 3 snorkeling trips Daily to see this beautiful piece of under water Art