Brazil is already the world's undisputed capital of very-tall-Jesus tourism, thanks to the Christ the Redeemer statue on Mount Corcovado overlooking Rio de Janeiro.
Now an even taller Jesus is under construction about 900 miles (1,500km) away in the town of Encantado in Brazil's southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul.
When finished, the iron-and-concrete savior, named Christ the Protector (or Cristo Protetor in Portuguese), will stand at a total height of 141 feet (43m). That will make the new colossus about a giant head taller than Rio's Christ the Redeemer, which stands at 125 feet (38m) tall (if you count the pedestal—the actual statue measures 30m/98 ft. tall).
(Christ the Protector statue under construction in Encantado, Brazil; image: Konce Agência)
According to the Associação Amigos de Cristo, the nonprofit organization funding the construction, Christ the Protector will be the world's third-tallest Jesus statue when it's unveiled by the end of this year. Only the 172-foot-tall Estátua de Cristo Rei in western Poland and Mexico's planned but still unfinished 253-foot-tall Cristo de la Paz have loftier specs.
The work of father-and-son sculptors Genésio Gomes Moura and Markus Moura, Encantado's Christ statue will have an elevator inside to take visitors to a lookout about 112 feet up, where a glass opening will show off the surrounding hills and lakes.
(Image: Konce Agência)
Construction began in July 2019 and is expected to cost R$2 million (US$365,000), all from donations.
