The Christ the Redeemer monument sits atop Mount Corcovado in Rio in the Tijuca Forest National Park, a rainforest within the city’s boundaries.
The breathtaking sight was caught during a flash storm that rocked the Brazilian coast on Feb. 10. The bolt of lightning struck the statue's head, making it the perfect moment to catch fire on social media.
Notably, the Christ the Redeemer monument, the biggest representation of Jesus in the world, is more than 2,000 feet above Rio.
According to Britannica, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro commissioned the statue and proposed that it be built atop Mount Corcovado so that citizens could see it from anywhere in Rio. The idea was first suggested in the 1850s, but it wasn’t until 1921 that the church introduced the proposal.
Construction started in 1922, and a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the base was held on April 4 of that year.
“Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski created the statue. Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa built the statue in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian artist Gheorghe Leonida created the statue’s face,” according to enjoytravel.com.
The website continues: “The original sketch was of Christ carrying a large cross in one hand and a globe in the other. The statue earned the nickname ‘Christ with a ball.’ In the end, after surveying the land, a design was decided upon of Christ with his arms wide open in an Art Deco style.”
Construction was completed a little less than 10 years later, and it was dedicated on Oct. 12, 1931. Weighing 635 metric tons, it is the largest Art Deco statue in the world.
In 2007, people from all over the world voted Christ the Redeemer onto the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World, through a campaign launched by the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation. With hundreds of millions of votes, it made the cut, from 21 finalists.
“A symbol of Christianity across the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil,” the foundation said.
The monument, made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, is accessible by train or car. It now has elevators and escalators to reach its feet, but previously, the only option for visitors was to climb the 220-step staircase.
