Seven
Wonders of the World:
Christ the Redeemer
Christ
the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 38 metres (120 ft) tall weighs
700 short tons (635 tonnes), and is located at the peak of the 700
metres (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National
Park overlooking the city. It is the tallest of its kind in the
world. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone. A
symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of
Rio and Brazil.
History
The idea for
erecting a large statue atop Corcovado was first suggested in the
mid 1850s, when Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss requested
financing from Princess Isabel to build a large religious monument.
Princess Isabel did not think much of the idea and it was
completely dismissed in 1889, when Brazil became a Republic, with
laws mandating the separation of church and state.
The second proposal for a large landmark statue on the
mountain was made in 1921 by the Catholic Circle of Rio.
The group organized an event called Semana do Monumento
("Monument Week") to attract donations and collect
signatures to support the building of the statue. The donations
came mostly from Brazilian Catholics. The designs considered for
the "Statue of the Christ" included a representation of the
Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a
pedestal symbolizing the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer
with open arms was chosen. Christ the Redeemer with Corcovado in
background.
Design
Local engineer
Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue; it was sculpted by Paul
Landowski, a French monument sculptor of Polish origin. A group of
engineers and technicians studied Landowski's submissions and the
decision was made to build the structure out of reinforced concrete
(designed by Albert Caquot) instead of steel, more suitable for the
cross-shaped statue. The outer layers are soapstone, chosen for its
enduring qualities and ease of use.
Construction took nine years, from 1922 to 1931. The monument was
opened on October 12, 1931. The cost of the monument was
$250,000. The statue was meant to be lit by a battery of
floodlights triggered remotely by shortwave radio pioneer Guglielmo
Marconi, stationed 5,700 miles (9,200 km) away in the Rome, but
poor weather affected the signal and had to be lit by workers in
Rio.
Fast
Fact
The statue was
struck by lightning during a violent electrical storm on Sunday,
February 10, 2008. The storm caused havoc in Rio, falling trees in
several neighborhoods, but the statue was left unscathed because
soapstone, the material forming the outer layers of the statue, is
an insulator. It is also the largest single
Art Deco object in the world.
Recognitions
and Honors
In
October 2006, on the statue's 75th anniversary, Archbishop of Rio
Cardinal Eusebio Oscar Scheid consecrated a chapel (named for the
patron saint of Brazil - Nossa Senhora Aparecida) under the statue.
This allows Catholics to hold baptisms and weddings there.
On 7th July 2007, Christ the Redeemer was named one of the
New Seven Wonders of the World in a list compiled
by the Swiss-based The New Open World Corporation. In Brazil there
was a campaign Vote no Cristo (Vote for the Christ) which had the
support of private companies.
Additionally, leading corporate sponsors including Banco Bradesco
and Rede Globo spent millions of dollars in the effort to have the
statue voted into the top seven.
Reference/Image Credits:Wikipedia, 1. Bridgepix, 2. Wikimedia, 3. Carrie J, 4. Froodee
