Christ the Redeemer

Have you ever been to the beautiful city of Rio De Janerio? Well, if you have then you probably know what I am talking about. If not, I am talking about the colossal statue in Rio De Janerio called Christ the Redeemer.

Where is it?

The statue of Christ the Redeemer is in the city of Rio De Janerio. Rio is in the country of Brazil which is in the continent of South America and all of these are located in the southern hemisphere. The population of Brazil is 200.4 million people.

When was it built?

It was originally suggested in 1850 by a catholic priest called Pedro Maria Boss but it was delayed until a man called Paul Landowski designed a slightly different version of Christ the Redeemer in the early 1920s. Construction started in 1922 by Heitor Da Silva Costa and Albert Caquat. The design was art deco style which was extremely popular at the time. The building materials consists of reinforced concrete and soap stone and was finished construction in 1931. The statue weighs a whopping 635tonnes (aprox) and is 38m tall and 28m across. It has been standing for 85 years but it has been damaged 4 times by lightning!!!.

What is the statue of Christ the Redeemer for?

The statue over looks the city of Rio from Mount Corcovado and it is also huge tourist attraction. It attracts over 1,800,000 tourists anaully

Why was it build?

It was built as a symbol of Brazilian christianity. It also supposedly protects Rio de Janerio but that's up to you to decide. The statue is basically a religous monument

Any other info?

Because of the lightning strikes it now has lightning rods on the statues head, arms and hands and it is obviously one of the 7 wonders of the world. The statute also lights up on special ocassions such as the football world cup and olympic games and it takes 220 steps to get up to see the Redeemer probably because Mount Corcovado is 710m tall. Christ the Redeemer is often seen touching the clouds.

If you ever go to Brazil I highly suggest you going to Rio De Janerio and taking in all the breathtaking scenes especially 'Christ the Redeemer statue'

By Poppy Parsons