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Christ the Redeemer

Visiting a Modern Wonder of the World

By LIOPPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
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The Iconic Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro / Photo Credit: Yaman Mutart

I went to visit Christ the Redeemer at the end of 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Even with tourism at an all time low in Rio de Janeiro, Christ the Redeemer still seemed to draw a crowd and social distancing was not exactly the easiest once I got to the base of the monument. This article will cover some of the history of the statue, what it was like to visit during the pandemic and tries to answer my question about why this statue is considered a Wonder of the Modern World.

In the video below you can take a 360 walk around the statue starting from when I left the train, up the stairs to the monument and around the view point. 360 footage allows for you to look around and see what the experience is like without any "camera tricks" or editing to make things more appealing or less attractive than they already are.

No matter where you go in Rio de Janeiro it is fairly easy to see the Christ the Redeemer Monument unless there is another mountain blocking your view. From the ground the statue seems very small and in all truth I did not see anything special about it. It was one of the last places I visited in Rio de Janeiro and I literally only took the trip up the mountain because who visits Rio and doesn't go to see Christ the Redeemer? I mean I do go to places and see things, it's kind of what I do. So it was somewhat inevitable that I ended up travelling up to see the monument. First I needed to do some research and try to figure out why this monument was so special. Compared to other great structures I have seen in my life, this was nothing more than an oversized statue of Jesus and although that is neat or "cool" for some, most of the world certainly is not Christian and I can't see why they would care.

Christ the Redeemer at Sunset / Photo Credit: Yaman Mutart

Christ the Redeemer, also known as Cristo Redentor in Portuguese, is a giant statue of Jesus Christ situated atop the peak of the 700 meter or 2,300 foot Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The statue is 30 meters or 98 feet tall from head to toe and stands on an 8 meter or 26 foot high pedestal. That means from the base of the pedestal to the top of Christs head the distance is about 38 meters or 124 feet. Even more impressively, if you calculate in the height of the mountain, the top of Christs head is 738 meters or 2, 424 feet from sea level. In addition to its great height, Christ the Redeemers arms stretch 28 Meters or 92 feet wide and the statue weighs in at a whopping 635 metric tons. This makes the Christ the Redeemer statue the largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world.

Christ the Redeemer was created by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot. The Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida fashioned the face. Construction took about 9 years between 1922 and 1931 and is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.

The statue has been a symbol of Christianity across the world, and has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. This makes it one of the busiest attractions in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil and is visited by millions each year. You may even recognize it from certain Hollywood films where the world tends to come to an end. When they decide to blow up buildings and monuments normally Christ the Redeemer is not spared.

If you want to go up to Christ the Redeemer you have a couple options for getting up to the top. You can take the train that runs frequently back and forth up the steep mountain and through the rainforest. This is often the easiest method for getting up to see the giant monument. I chose to take the train because it seemed like the best option to get a feel for being a tourist in Rio visiting the monument and due to the size of the cars social distancing was quite easy.

Another option is to hire a van and ride up with a group. If you are travelling with a group of friends this is a good option. As long as COVID is an issue I wouldn’t recommend it if you are just travelling alone or with 1 or 2 other people. You never know who you will be sitting with and social distancing wouldn’t be possible in a small van.

You can also hire a taxi or Uber I am told but I was unable to get my Uber driver to take me up the mountain. This was my first option before deciding to take the train. I was thinking take the Uber up to the top and then return on the train.

The most challenging option is the 3 hour hike up through the forest to get to the top. Although this was something I wanted to try, after seeing the crowd that hangs out around the train station and hearing stories of tourists being mugged while climbing up the hill I thought it was best to avoid the climb with my camera equipment.

So opting to take the train to the top my family and I boarded and we began the long and somewhat boring ascent up the hill. As you can see from the 360 video I made of the trip there are times when the view is quite nice, but most the time you will be looking at trees, rocks and roads. You can see the full ride up to the monument in 360 by watching the video above. This gives an idea of what to expect if you decide to ride up the mountain, what social distancing is like on the train and allows you to look around inside the train as it moves up the mountain.

Even during the pandemic, Christ the Redeemer is one of the busiest places you can visit in Rio. There are several factors that come into play with why the viewpoint and area around the statues base get crowded and social distancing becomes virtually impossible.

Christ the Redeemer Enveloped in Clouds / Photo Credit: Yaman Mutart

The first factor for crowds is weather. There are only so many optimal hours, times and days that the view from the giant Jesus is good. Often the area is surrounded by cloud and fog and visibility is little or none. This means anyone in Rio that wants to get up there and enjoy the famous view is going to have to watch for an ideal time. This leads to denser crowds when you get to the top. You can check visibility online at anytime by looking for a live web cam from up on the mountain. There are a couple and they air for free on several websites including YouTube.

Another factor that leads to huge crowds at Christ the Redeemer is the hype. Like many things in Rio de Janeiro there is a huge hype about going up to see the statue and the view. In fact the statue is so iconic and the hype is so wide spread around the world, you really can’t visit Rio and not go up to Christ the Redeemer. Even if you don’t have an interest in statues or Christianity it would be one of those things you wish you had done. People would literally say to you, how could you go to Rio de Janeiro and not go up to see Christ the Redeemer?

Because of these reasons the crowds are big and the area is quite small. When you are trying to put 2 meters of distance between yourself and others it can be quite difficult when you are out on the viewpoint or in front of the base of the statue. In fact if you want to enjoy the views from the railing, even if you manage to get a spot where you are not surrounded by people, someone will come stand next to you.

A Panoramic View From Christ the Redeemer / Photo Credit: Yaman Mutart

The view from the viewpoint around Christ the Redeemers base is somewhat impressive. I will be honest, I don’t think looking down on Rio or the area is really that nice. The buildings are old and falling apart and in general the city is pretty dirty and industrialized. That being said you will find you are at a really high altitude and the only other way to get a view like that is to go take a helicopter tour or some other form of air transportation.

Proof I Visited Christ the Redeemer. The Easiest Place to Take a Selfie Was at the Back.

I had mixed feelings about the my visit up to the monument. On one hand it is a well known and iconic structure. It is much higher and the statue of Christ the Redeemer is much larger than it looks from below. However I did not think it was really worth the cost of the train up to the top and even after researching information about the monument the only reason I can see that it is considered a Wonder of the World is because it was voted to be so by more Christians than other cultures. Please don't get me wrong, it is quite neat that a statue is up on a mountain like that but I certainly didn't stand in awe and wonder while seeing it. Needless to say I did venture up to the statue and it is another of the "great" structures I have visited.

If you plan to visit Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro I would recommend bringing some refreshments with you as the restaurants are a bit pricy. You certainly will want to apply some sunblock and wear a hat with a string or that is tight fitting because the wind up there can get pretty intense. The entire area is completely accessible allowing for mobility impaired visitors and families with young children to move around with ease. There are hand sanitizer stations all over the upper and lower portions of the mountain but bringing a small bottle with you never hurts.

I only would recommend visiting Christ the Redeemer to say you went, if you are really into Jesus or if you love heights. Try to go on a clear day if you can, it is really cool when it is all foggy but you wont get any kind of a view out into the ocean and onto the city below if there are clouds in the way. Be prepared for crowds and don't be in a rush. Like many places in Rio if you are in a hurry you may end up causing yourself grief when it isn't needed and you are on holiday, relax and enjoy it.

If you are planning a trip to Rio de Janeiro you can watch a full series on various places around the city on the Lovin' it on Phuket YouTube Channel by following the link below.

Lovin' it on Phuket Presents: Rio de Janeiro

For great content from around the world including Rio, Istanbul, Egypt and more check out the Lovin' it on Phuket YouTube Channel. If video is not your thing, you can find LIOP on most social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook and Tik-Tok.

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