Christ the Redeemer monument is a statuette of Jesus Christ in Brazil Rio de Janeiro, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and constructed by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in partnership with the French engineer Albert Caquot.
It is among the giant statues in the world; the distance from fingertip to fingertip is 28m and there is a small sanctuary housed in the base. It is situated at the top of Corcovado Mountain, the whole memorial of statue of Christ the Redeemer is 38m high with the statue accounting for 30m and overseeing the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The idea about the statue was first suggested in the mid 1850's once a Catholic Minister known as Pedro Maria Boss ask for the finance to build a religious monument in the city, Though he lived in Rio de Janeiro most of his life, he deceased several years before the statue inaugurated being built. Though, the idea was terminated and the statue was never built. In 1921 a monument was suggested again by the Catholic Circle of Rio de Janeiro. They petitioned to the public for support and donations to have somewhat built to symbolize the religious strength in the country.
The complete design of the monument was made by a local architect; though, a French sculptor was custom-built to shape the Christ the Redeemer. The entire cost of the statue was equal to $250,000 of today. In 1980 Pope John Paul II was slated to visit the Rio de Janeiro statue and major refurbishment work was done. In 2003 moving staircase (escalators) and pulleys (elevators) were constructed, to allow people to gain easier access to the viewing podium.
A group of engineers and specialists studied Landowski's proposals and felt constructing the structure of armored concrete (invented by Albert Caquot) on behalf of steel was more appropriate for the cross-shaped statue. The exterior coatings are soapstone, picked for its abiding qualities and ease of use. Building of the structure took nine years, since 1922 to 1931 and cost about 250,000 US dollars (comparable to 3,300,000 dollars in 2015) and the memorial opened on October 12, 1931.
Christ the Redeemer is among the major art deco sculpture in the world. It is 98 feet tall (excluding the 26 foot platform), and the arms give to 92 feet wide. The sculpture weighs about 635 tones.
It is located in the Tijuca Forest (National Forest), at the topmost of the Corcovado Mountain. The sculpture is deliberated a representation of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.
This monument was the tallest in the world once it was built in 1931. Ever since, many other Jesus statues have been built. Today (2013), there are two other sculptures of Christ larger than Christ the Redeemer statue, which are Christ of Peace in Cochabamba, Bolívia only 2 meters higher and Christ the King in Swiebodzin, Poland 13 meters higher.
During statue construction proposal, there were numerous designs to choose from. One was a portrayal of the Christian cross. Another was a statue of Jesus carrying a globe, while standing over a platform that was to represent the world.
The picked statue is destined to show that Christ loves all and will hug all that come to him, the stones used to construct the monument came from Sweden.
The monument had to be built in pieces and transferred to the mountain top to be assembled and constructed. The substances used to build Christ the Redeemer were armored concrete and soapstone. The left arm spike to north Rio de Janeiro and the right arm spike to south Rio de Janeiro.
The forceful lightning in 2008 struck the monument causing destruction to the fingers, eyebrows and head. Repair was done to restore the damaged parts, where some of the soapstone was removed and replaced.
The statue is repaired every few years, due to its exposure to rain, dust, sun, wind and lighting. The last repair was done in 2010 for about three months. People visiting the monument can go up to the topmost of Corcovado Mountain, however the statue was bordered in scaffoldings during most of the restoration period.
The statue got an average of 2 million visitors per year until 2019, where tourists get to the top of Corcovado Mountain to see the monument, but sometimes they see nothing but clouds. A cloud cover may inhibit you from seeing Statue. Moreover, be contingent on the density of the cloud you might not see Rio de Janeiro either. The supreme time to visit the statue is late afternoon or evening, that moment you can enjoy the magnificence of the setting sun while taking in one of the most essential landmarks in the world.
The statue can be toured by the 7.9 feet Corcovado Railway with the capability to embrace 360 passengers every hour. The trip by rail is about 20 minutes and leaves the base each 30 minutes. For visitors not desiring to make the difficult trek up the mountain, reaching the statue is probable by escalators and elevators.
Posted by: Lusubilo A. Mwaijengo
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