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The
Christ the Redeemer Statue is among the 21 finalist monuments
competing to be elected one of the New 7 Wonders of the World,
as announced by the New 7 Wonders Foundation an organization based
in Zurich, Switzerland.
The
statue's history began in the 1500's when the Portuguese named
the mountain Pináculo da Tentação (The Peak
of Temptation). About a hundred years later, the mountain was
re-named 'Corcovado', after its characteristic profile, which
resembles a hump or hunchback. In 1924, Brazil's Dom Pedro personally
led the first official expedition to the top of Corcovado Mountain,
and it soon resulted in wider publis access to the top.
When
Father Pedro Maria Boss arrived Rio de Janeiro in 1859, he was
taken by the prominence of the mountain and its view of the city
and the marshy beaches half a mile below its peak. He decided
to champion the construction of a religious monument in honor
of Princess Isabel, which in 1921 gave way for the idea of a great
statue of Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer. A plan was
settled on, and the first step, the construction of the Corcovado
Railroad began in 1858.
On
April 22nd 1922, the cornerstone of the Christ statue was laid
on Brazil's Discovery Day and nine years later, the Statue of
Christ the Redeemer was inaugurated on October 12th, 1931.
The
statue's distinctive design was the creation of artist Carlos
Oswald with French Sculptor Paul Landowski who was given the assignment
of bringing the scaled drawings to life. Interestingly, Rio de
Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue is the world's largest art
deco sculpture.
Those
interested in voting for the Christ the Redeemer Statue must make
an international call and dial code 05 when prompted. Several
numbers are available at the website www.new7wonders.com.
According
to the N7W Foundation, fifty percent of all net revenue raised
through the international calls will be used to fund restoration
efforts worldwide.
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