Final elements were installed on the world's tallest statue of Jesus Christ on Saturday, marking an end to the five-year construction in a small Polish town, the PAP news agency reported.
The statue's torso, head and crown were installed on Saturday. The works were initially scheduled for Friday, but were delayed by strong winds.
A similar attempt failed two weeks ago as the 400-ton crane on site proved inadequate to lift the head and arms into position, and a 700-ton crane was brought in to complete the construction.
The town of Swiebodzin, which is off the beaten track near the German border, hopes its gigantic Jesus will become a tourist attraction as famous as the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
The monument is expected to overshadow not only Christ the Redeemer, which stands at 39.6 meters (130 feet), but also the Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which rises to 40.44 meters (almost 133 feet).
The Polish statue itself is about 33 meters tall (108 feet), but its overall height, including the 16-meter (52.5 feet) mound and a two-meter (6.6 feet) crown, exceeds 51 meters (167 feet). Its total weight is about 440 metric tons.
The date of the official ceremony to unveil the monument is yet to be announced, but earlier media reports said it would take place on November 21.
Construction costs are estimated at almost $1.5 million, and the whole sum was raised through private donations.
The plans to build the statue have divided society in Poland. The supporters of the project say the statue would attract pilgrims to the city, while their opponents accused the church of megalomania and said the giant and costly project has nothing to do with the teaching of Jesus Christ.
MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti)
Source: http://en.rian.ru/Religion/20101107/161233387.html
No comments:
Post a Comment