The statue of “Christ the Protector” is built in Encantado, a small town in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, by a local organization called the Association of Friends of Christ (AACristo).
Made of steel and concrete, it will be 43 meters (141 feet) high – 16 feet taller than Christ the Savior in Rio, according to AACristo.
The statue is 141 meters high.
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The organization said the statue will be the third tallest statue of Jesus in the world, after a 249-foot statue currently under construction in Mexico and a 172-foot monument in Poland.
The statue is the work of sculptor Genésio Gomes Moura and his son Markus Moura. His head and arms were installed on April 6, and construction, which began in July 2019, should be completed by the end of this year, according to AACristo.
It is 16 feet taller than the statue of Christ the Savior in Rio de Janeiro.
SILVIO AVILA / AFP / Getty Images
It will cost about $ 353,000 in total, and AACristo is asking for donations to complete the project.
An elevator installed inside the statue will take tourists to a view at the height of the heart of Christ.
“It will be a glass opening where people will be able to film and photograph the valley,” project director Artur Lopes de Souza said on the AACristo website.
The aim is to stimulate tourism in the area, which is close to Brazil’s borders with Uruguay and Argentina.
The statue of Christ the Savior has been looking down on the city of Rio de Janeiro for almost 90 years and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Brazil.