newest jesus statue in southern brazil will be taller than rio de janeiro's 'christ the redeemer'

a huge statue of jesus christ is under construction in the small town of encantado, in southern brazil, and it will be even taller than its iconic counterpart in rio de janeiro. conceived by sculptor genésio gomes moura and his son markus moura, the new ‘christ the protector’ statue will be made with steel and concrete to stand 43 meters (141 feet) tall. the construction will be supported by a local organization named friends of christ association (AACristo).

all images via @cristodeencantado

AACristo says that when complete, ‘christ the protector’ will rank as the third tallest jesus statue in the world, right after a 75-meter (249-foot) statue currently under construction in mexico, and a 52-meter (172-foot) monument in poland. the statue stands 43 meters tall with an arm span of 36 meters, when the emblematic ‘christ the redeemer’ stands at 38 meters in height, with an arm span of 28 meters.

the head and arms of the new sculpture were installed on april 6th and the construction, which began in july 2019, is expected to finish at the end of this year. costing around $353,000 USD, the entire project was financed via donations. once finished, the statue will have a special viewing window at christ’s heart where visitors will be able to take photos of the valley below.

project info:

name: christ the protector
sculptors: genésio gomes moura, markus moura
in collaboration with: friends of christ association (AACristo)