The Statue of Christ the Redeemer

The statue of Christ the Redeemer at the top of the Corcovado Mountain, in the Tijuca National Forest in Brazil, represents the major faith of this South American country. Overlooking the city, it probably has one of the best views that can be found in Rio de Janeiro. The statue is currently 80 years old and has gone under several extensive renovations, which included adding an elevator in 2002. The statue of Christ the Redeemer is probably one of the most recognized images of Brazil. It has a unique design, an interesting history, and a marvelous view.
The idea to put a statue at the 2,300 feet height of the top of the Corcovado Mountain can be traced back to the 1850s, but was dismissed when Brazil became a republic in 1889, and a law was put in place separating the church from the state. Christ the Redeemer was designed by a French sculptor by the name of Paul Landowski, and a local engineer named Heitor da Silva Costa was chosen to supervise the entire construction. The statue was built not out of steel but from reinforced concrete as that was considered a more suitable material for the cross shaped statue. The external caps of the idol were constructed in soapstone due to the resistance of this material to the extreme weather over time and also due to its malleability. It is considered the largest art deco statue in the world and the fifth largest statue of Jesus in the world. It weights approximately 635 tons and 120 feet tall. The statue can be accessed by the 2.4 meter Corcovado Railway that has the capacity to hold 360 passengers every hour. The trip by rail is approximately 20 minutes and leaves the base each half hour. From the road or the train terminal, the Christ the Redeemer statue is reached in 220 steps. For those not wishing to make the arduous trek up the mountain, reaching the statue is possible by escalators and elevators. The monument is one of the biggest sculptures in the world, and up until today, several reforms have been completed to...