The Statue of Christ the Redeemer Stands at Top of Cordova
Mountain Peak, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on the continent of South
America.
The 710 meter
mountain of Corcovado is crowned by the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The entire
monument is 38 meters high with the statue accounting for 30m, the span from finger tip to fingertip is 28m and there is a small chapel housed in the base. Also one of the seven wonders of the world.As a vantage point it offers superb views of downtown Rio de Janeiro,the bay, Sugarloaf Mountain and Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches.
This statue was built in 1931 and it took five years to build. It''s one of the world''s best-known and most-visited monuments. The statue represents Jesus standing with outstretched, welcoming arms and as well as being a potent symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of the city.
First idea for building a large religious monument was by Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss which was completely dismissed in 1889, when Brazil became a Republic. The second proposal for a large landmark statue on the mountain was made in 1921 by the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro. He organised an event called Semana do Monumento ("Monument Week") to attract donations. Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa was chosen to oversee the construction of the new monument, to be designed by a French monumental sculptor Paul Landowski. Decision was made to build the structure out of reinforced concrete instead of steel,and the outer layers of the statue out of Soapstone. The Corcovado Rack Railway was the only way to get the large pieces of the statue to the top of the mountain. The monument was inaugurated on October 12, 1931, by president Getúlio Vargas. On 12 october 2006 the statue was celebrating it''s 75 year birthday.