In my mind, the Christ the Redeemer monument has always been the symbol of Rio de Janeiro.   I was surprised to learn that its foundation had been laid relatively recently,  on April 4, 1922—as commemoration of the centennial of Brazil’s independence from Portugal.

Since it was to be built upon the 2301 foot summit of Mount Corcovado at the mouth of Guanabara Bay,  the monument would be seen from anywhere in Rio. The statue was  completed and dedicated five years later on October 12, 1931.   Christ the Redeemer is 99 feet tall,  standing on a 26ft high pedestal and the arms stretch 92 feet wide.  It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.  Originally, in order to reach the statue, visitors would have to climb over 200 steps.  While there are still a good number of steps there, we did have the advantage of escalators and panoramic elevators to make the final ascent quite easy.

Due to its exposure to the elements including being an easy target for lightning strikes, maintenance work needs to be conducted periodically.  Lightning struck  on February 10, 2008, causing  damage to the fingers, head and eyebrows.  A restoration effort to replace some of the outer soapstone layers and repair the lightning rods on the statue.  Lightning damaged it again on January 17, 2014, dislodging a finger on the right hand.

Interestingly the statue’s construction makes repair work a bit simpler – rather than a smooth  surface that could experience chunks of damage, the statute is actually made of a mosaic of triangular pieces.  When there is damage the pieces are easier to replace.  Here are           some zoom shots I took of these structures:

Of course the monument’s  features and serene beauty is best seen from above -and Vitor photographed some incredible photos with his  drone (he had special permission to do this as the area is well policed to avoid drone wars):

Thanks Vitor for sharing these magnificent shots!

The statue has become of global symbol of Christianity and it was voted one of The Seven New Wonders of the World.  It sits on Corcovado Mountain  within the Tijuana National Park.  Yes that is the same park I mentioned will be the subject of Vitor’s book coming out in November and I will be taking you through our visit to the main area of the park in a future post.

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