The famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that many of you see on TV is actually called the statue of Christ the Redeemer. It is located at the top of the Corcovado Mountain and is 710 metres high up. The statue shows Jesus standing upright with his arms outstretched to either side welcoming people from all over the world to the city of Rio. The Jesus statue has become a beacon for the Brazilian city and is now world famous.

The statue was designed by a Brazilian by the name of Heitor da Silva Costa. The Jesus statue in Brazil was built from 1926-1931, and the funding came entirely from donations. It was a giant architectural undertaking, and is one of Brazil’s great historical sights. As well as sculpt the 38-metre high statue Heitor da Silva Costa also oversaw the construction as he was also an engineer. The span of the statue from finger tip to finger tip is an incredible 28 metres. At the bottom of the Jesus statue there is also a small chapel which can accommodate around 150 worshippers.

The left arm points to Rio de Janeiro’s north zone, the right to the south zone. It offers breath-taking views of the city such as downtown Rio, the bay, Sugarloaf Mountain and Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches.

Rio De Janeiro

Rio, where the Jesus statue of Brazil is located, has a population of approximately 11 million people. It is the capital of Rio de Janeiro state and is located on Guanabara Bay. Although not the modern capital, it remains Brazil’s second largest city and is very much the cultural hub of Brazilian life.

New Seven Wonders of the World

On 7 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. Every year some 1.8 million visitors stop by to see the statue.

Declared a protected monument by the National Heritage Institute, IPHAN, in 2009, the Christ the Redeemer monument undergoes maintenance work periodically due to the strong winds and rain to which the statue is exposed.