Brazil’s New Statue of Jesus Will Be Taller Than Rio's Christ the Redeemer

Ever since it was completed in 1931, the Christ the Redeemer statue has stood atop Mount Corcovado overlooking Rio de Janeiro. At 98 feet tall, it sits on a 26-foot pedestal with an arm span of 92 feet. But by the end of this year, it will no longer be the tallest statue of Jesus in Brazil.

The new Cristo Encantado statue, called Christ the Protector, will overshadow the Rio landmark's total height of 124 feet by 16 feet, coming in at 140 feet overall, according to the Associação Amigos de Cristo (Friends of Christ Association) building it.

Located in the small town of Encantado in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the new attraction hopes to bring more travelers to the area.

Designed by sculptor Genesio Gomes Moura (Ceara) and his son, Markus Moura, the $2 million Brazilian real (about $350,000) project, which started in July 2019, will have an elevator inside leading to the statue's heart at about 112 feet. "It will be a glass opening where people will be able to film and photograph the Valley," the project's general supervisor Artur Lopes de Souza said in a statement on the official site.

The site also says the iron-and-concrete statue is slated to be completed by the end of the year, with the arms and head being put into position last Tuesday. The organization is soliciting donations to finish the construction, with donors' names being presented in plates for amounts starting at $1,000 Brazilian real (about $175).

When completed, this will be the third-largest Jesus Christ statue on the planet, the Cristo Encantado sites says, only topped by Mexico's Cristo de la Paz, which is about 249 feet tall, and Poland's Estátua de Cristo Rei, which stands at about 172 feet.