The Protector Christ will surpass in magnitude the Christ the Redeemer of Rio de Janeiro
As if Christ the Redeemer settled in the heart of Rio de Janeiro was not magnificent enough, the municipality of Delighted , in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil ), has decided to give life to the Protector Christ , a monument that will mark a milestone in the history of the Latin American country by becoming the third tallest statue of Jesus in the world , and surpass, by 5 meters, the emblematic Christ the Redeemer.
The structure, which began to be erected in July 2019, currently has the arms and head already positioned at a total height of 43 meters , which without a doubt would banish Christ the Redeemer from his title of tallest statue of Jesus in Brazil and it would be surpassed by the Cristo de la Paz in Mexico with 76 meters high, and by the Cristo Rey de Swiebodzin, in Poland, 52.50 meters high.
"Cristo Protector began as a project promoted by the then mayor of Encantado, Mr. Adroaldo Conzatti . Over time, the project gained support, and then the Associação Amigos de Cristo (Friends of Christ Association) was created, which manages the work and fundraising," they tell Traveler.es from the Association.
The Christ will be located in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul
With the purpose of being an emblematic city in Brazil , and expand both the visibility and the construction of a tourist identity for the region, Encantado aims to promote, through the great work of Protector Christ in Morro das Antenas , the arrival of a multitude of tourists to Rio Grande do Sul in the future.
Although in the first instance the entrepreneurs of the Taquari Valley region financed the initiative, in recent months they have used donations from the community, and at no time have they used public resources.
Today they invite private individuals to help finish laying the foundations of the Christ Protector , and last March they launched a program called "Action among friends", with the aim of collecting money to obtain construction materials . Those who contribute will enter the federal lottery draw on December 18 and will also be able to access the viewpoint of the statue.
The general supervisor of the work, Artur Lopes de Souza, explains that an elevator, which will be installed inside the statue, will take tourists to a viewpoint at the height of the heart of the statue , exactly 34 meters from the ground. “It will be a glass opening where people will be able to film and photograph the Valley,” he explains.
The Christ will have a viewpoint at the height of the heart of the statue
With the contribution of sculptor Genesio Gomes Moura and the son of the sculptor, Markus Moura, and design of the metallic structures of the arms and head of the civil engineer José Luis Gonçalves, the team is working on the preparation of the structure for the creation of the mantle , which will occupy most of the body of the statue.
Also, in the last week, The Cristo Protector team completed the work on the image with the placement of the last layer of material and completion of the painting, as well as the details of the hands, arms and head, which according to the Friends of Christ Association "they are impressive due to their similarity with human features".
Cristo Protector de Encantado is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.