Brazilian city builds Jesus statue higher than Rios - VG

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“JESUS PROTECTOR”: The statue in Encantados is scheduled to be completed later this year. Photo: SILVIO AVILA / AFP

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So far, only the head and the outstretched arms are in place, but there is no doubt that the Encantado’s Jesus statue will be towering.

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43 meters, the new statue will measure from toe to top when it is scheduled to be completed.

And with “toe” in this context, we include the shelf it is to stand on.

It is five meters higher than the world-famous “Christ the Savior”, which stands on the 700-meter-high mountain peak Corcovado above Rio de Janeiro. That statue measures “only” 38 meters including the shelf.

Bittersweet

The statue built in Encantdos, a city in the far south of Brazil, is not only reminiscent of the Rio statue because it is tall and of Jesus. It also has in common that it is a Jesus with his arms outstretched to the side.

According to BBC “Christ the Protector”, as it is called, was started in 2019. Only last week were the head and arms put in place.

“JESUS PROTECTOR”: The statue in Encantados is scheduled to be completed later this year.

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There is, however, a bittersweet story surrounding the new statue. It failed to protect the man behind the idea, Adrolado Conzatti. He became part of the tragic corona statistics in Brazil in March, when he died of the virus.

The statue is expected to be completed later this year. This means that construction is going somewhat faster than was the case in Rio de Janeiro almost 100 years ago. “Christ the Savior” began in 1922 and was completed nine years later.

The new Christ statue measures 36 meters from hand tip to hand tip, compared to 29 meters for the Rio statue.

RIO-JESUS: “Christ the Savior” can be seen from large parts of Rio de Janeiro, where it towers over the top of Mount Corcovado. Photo: CARL DE SOUZA / AFP

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Not the highest in the world

And when the world opens up again for more travel, you can take the trip in and out of the statue yourself. An elevator, which will take tourists up to a lookout point 40 meters above the ground, is built into the “Christ Protector”.

By the way, there are two Jesus statues in the world that are taller than Brazil’s coming. In Poland they have one that is 52.5 meters high, while in Indonesia they have one that is five centimeters higher than that again.