Yes, you can get married in the Christ the Redeemer’s chapel atop Corcovado Mountain, at 710 meters above sea level. The first wedding in the tiny little chapel took place after its re-inauguration in 2006. Since then, dozens of couples have paid the R$2,300; US$1,150; €1,000 fee (includes ornamentation) to get married in the chapel underneath the towering structure. Many of those who marry in that chapel are foreigners who marry Brazilians. Weddings are on Saturdays and Sundays at 5:00…read more
In 2006, the Christ statue officially became a Roman Catholic Sanctuary, which means it can host religious ceremonies such as masses, weddings, and baptisms. It can also receive pilgrims. The masses at the Christ the Redeemer statue are on Sundays (11:00 a.m.) and Monday through Friday (3:00 p.m.). When it gets too crowded, the priest brings the churchgoers outside the chapel without stopping the mass. The mass at Corcovado takes 45 minutes, and the final prayer is spoken in six…read more
Inside the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro hides a huge structure of concrete and iron. To go up to the top, there is a staircase in the interior leading up to the Christ’s chest level. To reach the arms and hands of the statue, you would have to walk on your knees through a tunnel that measures 90 centimetres high (2.9 feet) until you came to a small opening, which is an access to the outside and…read more
The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro is lit up every single night — the sculpture can then be seen from far way. In fact, 300 brand new energy-effecient LED projectors (bulbs with no filament) designed by the Plastic Artist Peter Gasper were inaugurated in 2011. It allows for changing colors, intensity, and speed. Was Christ statue lit up at the inauguration? Yes. The Christ statue was illuminated thanks to Guglielmo Marconi, world-renowned Italian scientist and inventor of…read more
The total height of the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro is 38 metres (125 feet), of which eight metres (26 feet) is the granite pedestal and 30 metres (98 feet) the statue itself. The total weight is 1,145 tons (the equivalent of approximately 16,000 human beings of 70 kilograms or 154 pounds). The head weighs 30 tons, measures 3.75 metres (12 feet) and leans forward five percent. Each hand weighs eight tons. The plateau where the Christ the Redeemer…read more
Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro was built from top to bottom. The first part of the Christ statue figure to be completed was the head. What is the Christ statue made of? Metal, in the shape of copper sheeting was the initially considered to build the monument but Costa (the Brazilian architect-engineer) thought that the look of the metal from a long distance would be ugly. The statue was therefore built utilizing reinforced concrete, a popular construction…read more
The numbered head and hand parts and all the materials required for building the Christ statue such as water, timber, stone, sand, cement, steel, and iron were carried to the Corcovado summit by cog train, since at the time there was no road to the top (built later in 1936). The Corcovado Railway was also used to carry up and down the staff that participated in the Christ statue construction work. Over 1,000 tons of materials were carried up to…read more
Christ the Redeemer statue was not a gift from France to Brazil like the Statue of Liberty was to the USA. However, some French technicians and artist did get involved in the project. The most famous was the French sculptor Paul Landowski. By the way, Bel Noronha, great-granddaughter of Heitor da Silva Costa, who was the creator of the Christ statue, grew up seeing her grandmother sending letters to newspapers that mistakenly wrote that Christ the Redeemer statue was a…read more
In 1923, the “Monument Week” was promoted. People from all over Rio de Janeiro and Brazil started contributing financially to the construction of the Christ statue. Catholic Church volunteers were sent out to collect the donations literally everywhere — stores, theatres, cinemas, churches and schools in rich and poor neighborhoods. Even schoolchildren were recruited to raise funds. They were issued with cards to record donations and visited family and friends chanting the motto: ‘For Christ, the Redeemer’. In Rio de…read more
You can easily visit by yourself Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The train station from where departs the train that takes visitors to the statue is located in Cosme Velho district, a 20-minute drive by cab from Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Leme, or other neighborhoods nearby. It is totally safe to take a taxi to the train station, and to take the train afterwards to get to the top of Corcovado to visit the statue. How to…read more
