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Christ the Redeemer facts worth knowing
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The best Christ the Redeemer facts go beyond height: names hidden in the stone, lightning on the hands, a wonder chosen in a worldwide vote and a church at the statue's feet.
Editorial team, christtheredeemertour.top · Updated November 11, 2026 · Read in 6 min
What the statue is made of
What is the Christ the Redeemer statue made of? Reinforced concrete on the inside and a soapstone mosaic on the outside, the sanctuary explains.1 Its architect chose soapstone because it was beautiful, workable, resistant to erosion and easy to find in Brazil,6 and the pale stone gives the statue the soft glow you see in every photo.
The mosaic hides one of the most touching Christ the Redeemer facts. While gluing the little triangles of soapstone to their fabric backing, the women of the Catholic Circle wrote the names of their relatives and of donors on the back of the pieces.7 Those names are now sealed against the concrete, out of sight, high above the city.
The style has a name too. The simplified forms, the lines of the robe and the overall composition recall Art Deco, the design language of the early 20th century, according to the sanctuary.8 Seen with that in mind, the statue suddenly looks like a sister to the skyscrapers and ocean liners of its age, only carved in stone on a mountain.
Fact sheet
The statue at a glance
| Topic | Fact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Concrete and soapstone1 | Sanctuary |
| Height | 38 m with pedestal20 | Sanctuary |
| Arms | 28 m wide21 | New7Wonders |
| Weight | About 1,100 t23 | National park |
| Unveiled | 12 October 193110 | Sanctuary |
| Wonder | Elected in 20073 | Sanctuary |
| Lightning | About 6 strikes a year2 | INPE |
| Owner | Archdiocese of Rio24 | Sanctuary |
Each fact as the named official source gives it; New7Wonders gives a different weight, 635 metric tons.25
Christ the Redeemer statue lightning: a magnet on the summit
A tall figure on an exposed peak attracts storms, and Christ the Redeemer statue lightning strikes are a regular event. According to INPE, Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, the monument was hit by an average of six lightning strokes a year.2 When storms roll in from the sea, nothing on the summit stands taller than the statue and its open arms.
Sometimes the lightning leaves marks. Brazil's federal news agency reported that the restoration completed on 11 July 2014 had begun six months earlier with the statue's thumbs, which had been struck by lightning the year before.15 The same campaign lengthened the lightning rods and strengthened the protection against strikes and static charge.16
The original protection has become a museum piece. The exhibition at Paineiras marking the anniversary displays the statue's original lightning rod structure, shaped like a crown, next to the mold of the head and a replica of the Sacred Heart.17 Entry is free,18 and it lets you see parts of the statue at eye level.
Lit up in color
Light has been part of the monument from the first night, though not quite as planned. On inauguration day Guglielmo Marconi, the radio pioneer, was supposed to turn on the floodlights remotely from Italy,30 but because of bad weather the lights were switched on from Rio instead.9 Even then, a thick cloud hid the statue from the crowds below.31
The current lighting dates from a renewal that began in 2000, when the statue received new lights, the train operator says.12 Today, the sanctuary explains, light and color are used to express tributes, dates and awareness messages, and each proposal is reviewed by its own team.32
Some recent examples show how varied the colors are. The statue was lit in blue on 4 November to honor 120 years since Santos Dumont's first flight in the 14-Bis.33 During its 95th anniversary month it glowed in the colors of the Italian flag,34 and in the color of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 4, quality education, for Teachers' Day.35
Why is Christ the Redeemer a wonder?
Why is Christ the Redeemer a wonder of the modern world? Because the world voted for it. On 7 July 2007 it won its place on the list of New Seven Wonders in a public online vote.3 New7Wonders, the organizer of the campaign, says the winners were chosen by more than 100 million votes and announced at a televised gala in Lisbon.26
The competition was real. The railway operator notes that the vote, held by internet and by phone message, picked the winners from among 21 monuments from around the planet.22 As part of its world tour, the New7Wonders team visited Rio on Feb 13, 2007, riding the Corcovado train up for a candidacy ceremony at the statue.38
Beyond the vote, the statue earns its title through the combination of art, engineering and setting. A Brazilian design built with a French sculptor and a French engineer,39 raised on a peak inside a national park, it has become the symbol of the city and draws visitors on a huge scale: close to 3 million went through the site in 2024 alone.40
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View - Christ, Sugarloaf and lunch8 to 9 hours · starting at, per person $74
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Converted at the ECB reference rate, from-prices as listed by GetYourGuide. The precise amount is shown when you book.
Milestones
A statue's life in moments
A sanctuary, not only a monument
Christ the Redeemer is a Catholic sanctuary as well as a landmark. On 12 October 2006, on its 75th anniversary, it was raised to the rank of archdiocesan sanctuary,13 and the guide booklet published by the sanctuary calls it the world's first sanctuary under the open sky.4 The whole sanctuary, platform, chapel and statue alike, is property of the Archdiocese of Rio.24
Prayer goes on around the clock. The Laudato Si' chapel around the monument offers perpetual Eucharistic adoration, 24 hours a day,28 while the chapel in the pedestal hosts daily Mass.27 Each morning a priest blesses the visitors and pilgrims in a short opening rite before the platform opens.41
Popes have come too. Pope John Paul II visited on 2 July 1980 and blessed the city from the foot of the statue,11 and during World Youth Day in Rio, Pope Francis stayed at the Sumaré residence of the Archdiocese, on the neighboring Sumaré hill.42 For the Archdiocese that cares for it, the statue is before anything else a place of prayer.
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Surprising facts about the Christ the Redeemer statue
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According to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the monument was hit by an average six lightning strokes a year.
Names, nicknames and twins
In Portuguese the statue is the Cristo Redentor, and the peak takes its name from corcova, a word for a hump.43 The statue almost had a different look and nickname: the first design showed Jesus holding a cross and a globe, and earned the nickname Cristo da bola, after the ball-shaped globe in one hand.44 It was redrawn into the open-armed cross you see today.45
The title of Redeemer has its own story. In 1888 abolitionists wanted to honor Princess Isabel as the Redeemer of Brazil with a statue on Corcovado, but she refused, saying the true Redeemer was Jesus Christ.46 Long after, the mountain got its Redeemer after all, in the form she had pointed to.
The statue also has formal twins. It has been twinned with Lisbon's Cristo Rei since 2009,14 and with the Christ the Redeemer of Maratea in Italy for five years as of October 2026, when a twinning ceremony with Rome's Colosseum was also held.47 For the 95 years, a commemorative stamp and medals were issued with Brazil's postal service and mint.48
Facts children ask about
How big is it? The statue and its pedestal together are 38 meters tall, and the statue alone is 30 meters.20 To reach its feet from the train or van you climb 220 steps, though elevators do much of the work.19 Children usually want to know if they can go inside: they cannot, because the hollow interior, with passages and stairs up to the arms and head, is only for maintenance staff.49
Is there anything hidden inside? Yes. Inside the heart on the chest, which measures about 1.30 meters, Levy and Viana tucked away a glass container of family records.50 And on the back of the outer tiles are names written by the volunteers who helped prepare them.5 The statue is full of secrets that nobody can see.
Which is older, the train or the statue? The train. The railway dates from 1884, almost 50 years earlier than the finished statue,51 and it carried the statue's pieces up the mountain.52 It was also the first electrified railway in Brazil, according to its operator,53 so riding it today is a little piece of history in itself.
FAQ
Questions answered quickly.
What is Christ the Redeemer made of?
Concrete and soapstone.
A reinforced concrete structure covered in a soapstone mosaic.1
How often is it struck by lightning?
When did it become a wonder?
On 7 July 2007.
It was elected in a popular internet vote.3
How many votes were cast?
More than 100 million.
According to New7Wonders, the organizer.26
Is it a church?
Yes, a sanctuary.
It became an archdiocesan sanctuary in 2006.13
Why is it lit in different colors?
For tributes and causes.
Light and color mark tributes, dates and awareness messages.32
What is its name in Portuguese?
Cristo Redentor.
The sanctuary that runs it is the Santuário Cristo Redentor.24
Sources
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Agencia Brasil (EBC, Brazil federal news agency) · Restoration work on Christ the Redeemer done ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · A historia em um clique (timeline) ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Cartilha do Guia de Turismo (PDF, February 2023) ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · A historia em um clique (timeline) ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · A historia em um clique (timeline) ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly (ALESP) · Cristo Redentor: 80 anos de um simbolo ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · A historia em um clique (timeline) ↩
- Trem do Corcovado (Corcovado railway operator) · History and Curiosities ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · A historia em um clique (timeline) ↩
- Santuario de Cristo Rei (Diocese of Setubal) · Cristo Redentor e a consagracao do Brasil ao Sagrado Coracao de Jesus ↩
- Agencia Brasil (EBC, Brazil federal news agency) · Restoration work on Christ the Redeemer done ↩
- Agencia Brasil (EBC, Brazil federal news agency) · Restoration work on Christ the Redeemer done ↩
- Paineiras-Corcovado (official van concession of Tijuca National Park) · Cristo Redentor rumo aos 100 anos: conheca a exposicao ↩
- Paineiras-Corcovado (official van concession of Tijuca National Park) · Cristo Redentor rumo aos 100 anos: conheca a exposicao ↩
- Parque Nacional da Tijuca / ICMBio (parquenacionaldatijuca.rio) · Saiba tudo sobre a troca das escadas rolantes do Cristo Redentor ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- New7Wonders · Cristo Redentor (1931), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ↩
- Trem do Corcovado (Corcovado railway operator) · History and Curiosities ↩
- Parque Nacional da Tijuca (ICMBio) · Corcovado ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Cartilha do Guia de Turismo (PDF, February 2023) ↩
- New7Wonders · Cristo Redentor (1931), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ↩
- New7Wonders · Renovated face of Christ Redeemer now back in public view ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Horarios e atendimento ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Horarios e atendimento ↩
- Trem do Corcovado (tremdocorcovado.rio), the Corcovado Train operator · History and Curiosities ↩
- Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly (ALESP) · Cristo Redentor: 80 anos de um simbolo ↩
- Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly (ALESP) · Cristo Redentor: 80 anos de um simbolo ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Iluminacoes, projecoes e eventos ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Cristo Redentor e iluminado em azul para homenagear os 120 anos do primeiro voo do 14-BIS ↩
- Riotur (Rio de Janeiro city tourism company) · Cristo Redentor completa 95 anos com programacao especial ↩
- Riotur (Rio de Janeiro city tourism company) · Cristo Redentor completa 95 anos com programacao especial ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- New7Wonders · World Tour events ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Cartilha do Guia de Turismo (PDF, February 2023) ↩
- Trem do Corcovado (Corcovado railway operator) · Official Statement ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (santuariocristoredentor.com.br), Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro · Horarios e atendimento ↩
- Parque Nacional da Tijuca (ICMBio) · Sumare ↩
- Sao Paulo State Legislative Assembly (ALESP) · Cristo Redentor: 80 anos de um simbolo ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Cartilha do Guia de Turismo (PDF, February 2023) ↩
- Riotur (Rio de Janeiro city tourism company) · Cristo Redentor completa 95 anos com programacao especial ↩
- Riotur (Rio de Janeiro city tourism company) · Cristo Redentor completa 95 anos com programacao especial ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Parque Nacional da Tijuca (ICMBio) · Corcovado ↩
- Santuario Cristo Redentor (Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro) · Curiosidades ↩
- Trem do Corcovado (tremdocorcovado.rio), the Corcovado Train operator · History and Curiosities ↩