Corcovado, Cristo Redentor

Cristo Redentor – Art Deco Statue of Jesus Christ

Cristo Redentor is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which was created by French Sculptor Paul Landowski. It was built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa in partnership with Albert Caquot, the French engineer. The face had been developed by the Romanian artist Gheorghe Leonida. The statue is said to be 30 metres tall excluding its 8 metres pedestal and its arms stretch 28 metres wide.

The statue tends to weight 635 metric tons and is placed at the peak of 700 metres Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park which overlooks the city of Rio. Being a symbol of Christianity all over the world, the statue has become a cultural icon of Rio de Janeiro as well as Brazil and has been listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It has been made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, constructed between the period of 1922 and 1931.

The Statue of Christ the Redeemer or Christo Redentor tends to keep a watchful eye over the people of Rio de Janeiro and sits on top of Corcovado 2,300 feet above the city and had been voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

Cog Train to Reach the Statue

It is one of the largest art deco statues in theworld and the statue had been unveiled in 1931. The views from the base of the statue on a clear day seems to be amazing and at night the statue is lit up and seemingly hovers over the city as the mountain it stands on is dark. If it tends to be cloudy, the clouds light up and the effect of it seem ethereal and remarkable.

In order to reach the statue one needs to take the cog train to the top of Corvado and the train offers some amazing views if one is on the right side of the train which leaves from Rua Cosme Velho 513. Taxis are also available to visit the statue and if travelling with a group, it tends to get easy to negotiate the cost for a return trip as well as waiting time which could be economical than the cog train.

Perched atop Corcovado, meaning the hunchback, Cristo Redentor gazes out over Rio with calm expression on his well-crafted face. The mountains seems to rise straight up from the city to 710 m and at night the brightly lit high open armed statue, all of 1145 tons, is visible from almost every part of the city.

Located – Parque Nacional da Tijuca

Corcovado is located within the Parque Nacional da Tijuca and the most popular way to reach the statue is to use the red narrow-gauge train which departs every half hour, taking around 20 minutes to reach the top. In order to reach the cog train, one can take any Cosme Velho bus.

 One can take bus 583 from Copacabana, Ipanema or Leblon. One can also travel by Parque da Tijuca; the authorized van for visiting the monument which tends to depart from three locations around the town namely Copacaban in front of Praca do Lido from 8 am to 4pm and the price for adult/child is R$62/40, Largo do Machado from 8 am to 5 pm – adult/child R$62/40 and Paineiras which is a few kilometres north of the statue, from 8 am to 6 pm, adults/child R$35/free.