Christ the Redeemer, Portuguese Cristo Redentor, colossal statue of Jesus at the summit of Mount Corcovado, Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. Celebrated in traditional and popular songs, Corcovado towers over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s principal port city. The statue of Christ the Redeemer was completed in 1931 and stands 98 feet (30 metres) tall, its horizontally outstretched arms spanning 92 feet (28 metres). The statue has become emblematic of both the town of Rio de Janeiro and thus the entire nation of Brazil.
The statue, made up of ferroconcrete clad during a mosaic of thousands of triangular soapstone tiles, sits on a square stone pedestal base about 26 feet (8 metres) high, which itself is situated on a deck atop the mountain’s summit. The statue is that the largest Art Deco-style sculpture within the world.
In the 1850s the Vincentian priest Pedro Maria Boss suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado to honour Isabel, princess regent of Brazil and thus the daughter of Emperor Pedro II, although the project was never approved. In 1921 the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro proposed that a statue of Christ be built on the 2 ,310-foot (704-metre) summit, which, thanks to its commanding height, would make it visible from anywhere in Rio. Citizens petitioned Pres. Epitácio Pessoa to permit the development of the statue on Mount Corcovado.
After its completion, the statue was dedicated on Columbus Day , 1931. Over the years it's undergone periodic repairs and renovations, including a radical cleaning in 1980, in preparation for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Brazil that year, and a serious project in 2010, when the surface was repaired and refurbished. Escalators and panoramic elevators were added beginning in 2002; previously, so as to succeed in the statue itself, tourists climbed quite 200 steps because the last stage of the trip. In 2006, to mark the statue’s 75th anniversary, a chapel at its base was consecrated to Our Lady of Aparecida, the defender of Brazil.
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