The Train
The train to Corcovado Hill in Rio de Janeiro was officially inaugurated in 1884 by the emperor Dom Pedro II. Until 1910 it was propulsed by steam when it turned electric. It was the spectacular view from top of the 710 meter hill that was the reason for the construction, all the way from the beginning it was for there for pleasure. Corcovado is humpback in Portuguese and refers to the resemblance from a distance.
The Statue
The actual Christ Statue, Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor in Portuguese) only came in to place in 1931. Even though the fundament had been in place already in 1922, actual work on the statue had only begun in 1926. The design was by an artist called Carlos Oswald, he had based it upon a original design made by the engineer Heitor da Silva Costa that had won a contest in the early 1920´s. Responsible for the actual sculpting was French artist Paul Landowski. The material is steel enforced concrete and with a protective layer of soap stone. I must add that the actual concrete funny enough is Swedish, the company from Malmo Skanska were hired to get a perfect result and they subsequently brought their own concrete.
A Religious Symbol
The 38 meter statue was from the beginning thought to be a symbol for the catholic church and for that reason it has subsequently been criticized. Occupying such a prominent position in a multi religious city it has been argued that it should not be connected with any particular fraction of Christians, thus remaining more open to everyone. These discussions still exist today but since the statue quickly became synonymous with Rio de Janeiro most people don´t care. It´s for everyone to admire or worship.
Renovations
Other than making the train electric there has been some changes made. The floodlights have been modernized two times. The actual statue has been renovated both 1980 and 1990. The train set was replaced in 1979 and in 2003 escalators and elevators were installed to facilitate access to the actual statue on the top.
One of the New Seven Wonders
In 2007 a world wide voting took place, it was for the nomination of “The New Seven Wonders of the World”. Rio´s Christ the Redeemer statue was elected together with Chichen Itza (Mexico), Colosseum (Italy), Great Wall of China (China), Machu Picchu (Peru), Petra (Turkey) and Taj Mahal (India).
