The New 7 Wonders of the World (Cristo Redentor)

The idea of ​​raising a symbol that embodied the religious spirit of the city of Rio de Janeiro emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, at the suggestion of the religious Pedro Maria Boss, with the support of Princess Isabel of Portugal. However, almost five decades passed until the idea was resumed in 1921, within the celebrations for the centenary of Brazil's independence.

One of the first decisions to be made by the Catholic Circle of Rio de Janeiro, in charge of the project, was the place where the image would be placed. The places considered were the Pan de Azúcar (Pão de Açúcar), Cerro Sao Antonio and Morro del Corcovado, the latter being chosen, with its peculiar hump form (hence the name) for being the highest of the three.

A contest was convened in 1923 and the project of the engineer Héctor da Silva Costa was selected. In the original design that won the contest, made by the artist Carlos Oswal, the statue of Christ the Redeemer held a cross in the left hand and a globe on the right, but finally chose to dispense with these two symbols. The sculpture of the Christ was partially realized in France by the French-Polish architect Paul Landowski and for its financing a great collection was called, called the National Monument Week, that had a multitudinous answer.

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The construction work of the Cristo Redentor, a gigantic sculpture made of reinforced concrete, lasted 5 years during which the most remarkable thing was that there was no regret for the death of any worker, something unusual at the time and more if taken into account The difficulty of the enclave and the shape of the image, with arms extended in the void. To give it its final appearance, the Christ of Corcovado was coated with soapstone, a material that despite being apparently weak resists very well the passage of time and variations in temperature without breaking or deforming. In addition to that, the statue of Christ the Redeemer has many curious details, one of them is that his heart has a perfect shape, both outside and inside.

Finally the great Christ the Redeemer of Corcovado was inaugurated the afternoon of October 12, 1931, becoming from that very moment the undisputed symbol of the city of Rio de Janeiro and of all Brazil.

The spectacular lighting of the Cristo Redentor, another of its hallmarks, has been changed and restored several times, one of them on the occasion of the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1990. One of the last great works of improvement in Corcovado Was made in 2003, when escalators and panoramic elevators were installed to facilitate access to the platform where the image of Christ is located.