One of the Seven Wonders of the World

We made the most of the final day of 2023 with a visit to the peak of Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. As many of you know, this is where the Christ the Redeemer statue is located, gazing over the largest port city of Brazil, Rio De Janeiro. This wonder of the world is 710 meters (2,329 feet) above sea level, and truly an engineering marvel.

It was a bit hazy upon our arrival into Rio but that was a welcome relief. We were previously told to be prepared for a hot, sunny, humid day. The day before our arrival it was 41 degree celcius (105 F) but today, as was our good fortune, it had cooled to 22 degrees celcius (72 F) with a light mist. Here's a photo from our balcony arriving into this incredible city where you can see the statue ontop of the distant mountain peak.

The statue was one of the "Wonders of the World" tours that was included as part of our Ultimate World Cruise journey. To get to the monument we took a 40 minute bus ride though Rio and then boarded the Corcovado Railway, a cog train, which has the capacity to take 360 passengers up the mountain every hour. The trip by rail takes approximately 20 minutes, and there are also 222 steps leading to the statue for those who prefer to hike. Here are photos of the entrance to the tram, a few from the ride up through the rainforest, and the loading platform with the tram at the top:

A little history about the statue:
It was proposed by a local priest in the 1850s to honor Princess Isabel, who was responsible for ending slavery in the country of Brazil. The idea was dismissed at the time due to political concerns. Later it was brought to the forefront by the Catholic Church who funded the project at a cost of $250,000. A local Brazilian engineer, Heitor da Silva Costa, drew up the statue’s design which initially had Christ holding a cross in one hand and a globe in the other. A Brazilian artist Carlos Oswald, a French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski, and a sculptor Gheorghe Leonida created the final version we see today, with Christ's arms spread out wide.

The project took 9 years, beginning in 1922, and around 100 workers to complete it. Christ the Redeemer began as a scaffolding in human form on top of the pedestal base that was overlaid by steel mesh to reinforce the concrete, then clay pieces, made abroad and shipped to Brazil, were attached. Finally, 6 million triangular soapstone tiles were applied to the clay in a mosaic fashion. Christ the Redeemer’s clean lines and modern, streamlined look make it the second largest Art Deco statue in the world. Weighing 635 metric tons, it is 4.5 times as heavy as the Statue of Liberty. These are additional photos of the statue - if you look closely you can see the many mosaic tiles used to create it. The iconic statue has been damaged by lightning strikes, with its right thumb needing repair after being chipped during a 2014 strike. The Brazilian government has taken steps to mitigate the risks of future lightning strikes by implementing protective measures which you can see as the spikes protruding from multiple parts of the statue.

The Christ the Redeemer statue is not only a remarkable feat of engineering and art but also holds significant cultural and historical importance. It was inaugurated on October 12th, 1931 and is considered a symbol of peace and benevolence, welcoming the world to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.