So it begins. For nearly a century, “Christ the Redeemer” has towered over Rio de Janeiro like a silent guardian; 124 feet of concrete Jesus that is now an important religious monument, a cultural fixture and one of the so-called “New Seven Wonders of the World.” But look out “Christ the Redeemer” statue. Some local competition is in the works.
About a day’s drive from Rio, in the Brazilian city of Encantado, a new statue of Jesus is under construction. This one will be called “Jesus the Protector” and will come in at about 141 feet, beating the Rio version’s height by about 16 feet. When completed, it will be the third tallest Jesus statue in the world, behind a 172-foot tall Jesus in Poland and a 253-foot whopper under construction in Mexico.
The idea is to juice up the region’s tourism industry and is being paid for by mixture of private and corporate donations. Once it’s done, you’ll be able to take an elevator about halfway up and look out over the city through a little window in Statue Jesus’ chest, near where its concrete heart, which feels like a metaphor of some kind but it’s hard to know for what.
The statue’s been in the works since 2019 and will be completed later this year, if all goes well.
