Christ The Redeemer is one of the most famous monuments in the world, and definitely the most famous in Brazil, becoming a symbol of Rio de Janeiro. It is so important that it’s even mentioned in real state – an apartment with a view to it is certainly more expensive than one without, sometimes even if in the same neighbourhood. But do you know its history?

Designed by Heitor da Silva Costa and sculpted by the french-polish Paul Landowski, the open-arms stance of the statue was meant to convey a message of peace to mankind and was chosen by a poll conducted by the Rio de Janeiro Catholic Circle. The face, though, was design by Gheorghe Leonida, who was part of Landowski’s team.

The statue has been inspiration to loads of artists, and made its way to Brazilian music, cinema and television, besides literature. It is considered the main symbol of Latin America and one of the Seven Wonders of The Modern World, and it is the third largest statue of the Christ, with 30m high.

It is not as tall as other famous monuments, but due to its location, on top of Corcovado, you have one hell of a view of the city… unless the weather gets cloudy, lol. By the way, Christ The Redeemer has had its share of problems with the weather. Its been struck by lightning a few time, and it took some work from restoration teams to fix up the damage.

To come to Rio de janeiro and not see the Christ is inconceivable. Which is why we couldn’t leave it out of our City Essentials Tours.

So, have you been to Rio? Have you seen the Christ statue in all its grandeur? Are you looking forward to it? Let us know!