Heart of soapstone and squatting: going to the top of Christ the Redeemer is an adventure
Charlie Grant, brother of Lana Del Rey, an attraction last Saturday (27) at the MITA Festival, took advantage of his visit to Rio de Janeiro to climb Christ the Redeemer and posted the adventure on social media.
What does Christ the Redeemer look like?
It is 38 meters high: 30 from the monument and eight from its pedestal.
The height is equivalent to a 13-story building.
The entrance door is on the pedestal, and no elevators are leading up to it.
Access is only possible when there is scaffolding or improvised ladders outside.
The only way to reach the monument’s top is by stairs.
Its interior, made of cement and only accessible to maintenance crews and authorized persons, consists of 12 plateaus connected by staircases.
The internal staircases are very narrow.
Some floors are lower than others.
The way to the plugs that open on the arms and head of the Christ even requires the visitor to crouch and crawl for a small space to reach the cavities.
The visit inside the monument is not open to the general public. The release depends on the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro.
MORE CURIOSITIES
Each arm of Christ the Redeemer has an area of 88m².
Its head weighs 30 tons, and its foot measures 1.35 meters.
The monument has a heart.
Christ the Redeemer has a discrete heart – the piece is a stylized image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; it measures 1.30 m and is covered in soapstone.
It was designed to withstand winds of up to 250km/h. According to the Christ the Redeemer Sanctuary, the monument would resist even a category five hurricane, such as Katrina, which hit the United States in 2005.
It cost less than R$10 million.
At the time it was built, Christ the Redeemer cost 2,500 contos de réis.
Today, the value would be equivalent to approximately R$9.5 million.
The engineer responsible for the construction lived in Corcovado.
During the monument’s construction, between 1926 and 1931, the construction engineer Heitor Levy lived on top of Corcovado.
With information from UOL
News Brazil, English news Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Christ the Redeemer
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief