8
WONDERS
I N D E X
1.Taj Mahal
2 .Giza Necropolis 3 .PETRA 4 .Chichen Itza
5 .Colosseum 6 . Machu Picchu 7 . Great Wall of China 8 . Christ the Redeemer (statue)
The Taj Mahal combines elements from Indian, Islamic, Persian and Turkish is one among sevenWonders of the World. “the jewel of Muslim art in India”. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the Taj Mahal attracts some 3 million visitors a year. white marble mausoleum located on the southern bank of Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra CONSTRUCTION was completed in 1653 and employed around 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahaur. ORIGIN AND INSPIRATION In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire’s period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished about five years later.
Taj mahal The Emperor himself described the Taj in these words: “Should guilty seek asylum here, Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, All his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs; And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made; To display thereby the creator’s glory. ~ Emperor : Shah Jahan”.
LATER DAYS Abdul Hamid Lahauri, the author of the Badshahnama, the official history of Shah Jahan’s reign, calls Taj Mahal rauza-i munawwara, which means the illumined or illustrious tomb. The tomb framed by the gateway entrance
View from the river Yamuna
Minaret
Great gate (Darwaza-i rauza), the main entrance to the tomb.
Soon after the Taj Mahal’s completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan’s death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife.
Finial - Tamga of the Mughal
In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal, the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph, were taken away by them, also the gold and silver screen. According to Mughal historian Kanbo, the 15-foot high finial at the top of the main dome of the Taj Mahal was covered with a gold shield and this was also removed during the Jat despoliation.
Taj Mahal through the fog.
By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen badly into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.
Main iwan and side pishtaqs
Giza Necropolis
The (Arabic, “pyramids of Giza”) is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.
Three pyramid complexes known as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx, one among sevenWonders of the World. It is located some 9 km (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre
The Pyramids and the Sphinx The Pyramids of Giza consist of the Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu and constructed c. 2560–2540 BC), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west, and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Along with these major monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as “queens” pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids.
Giza Necropolis
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New Kingdom
Giza pyramid complex seen from above
Auguste Mariette (seated, far left) and Pedro II of Brazil (seated, far right) with others during the Emperor’s visit to the Giza Necropolis at the end of 1871
During the New Kingdom, Giza was still an active site. A brick-built chapel was erected near the Sphinx during the early 18th dynasty, probably by king Thutmose I. Amenhotep II built a temple dedicated to HauronHaremakhet near the Sphinx. Pharaoh Thutmose IV visited the pyramids and the Sphinx as a prince and in a dream was told that clearing the sand from the Sphinx would be rewarded with kingship. This event is recorded in the Dream stela. During the early years of his reign, Thutmose IV together with his wife Queen Nefertari had stelae erected at Giza. Pharaoh Tutankhamun had a structure built which is now referred to as the king’s resthouse. During the 19th dynasty, Seti I added to the temple of Hauron-Haremakhet, and his son Ramesses II erected a stela in the chapel before the Sphinx and usurped the resthouse of Tutankhamun.
Late Period
The Great Sphinx partially excavated, photo taken between 1867 and 189
One facet of the great Pyramid of Giza, showing a nearby archaeological sit
During the 21st dynasty, the Temple of Isis Mistress-of-the-Pyramids was reconstructed. During the 26th dynasty, a stela made in this time mentions Khufu and his Queen Henutsen.
Petra (Arabic:Al-Batr; Ancient Greek: Π) is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma’an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. Another name for
Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone
out of which it is carved.
one of the wonders in the world In popular culture Petra is the main topic in John William Burgon’s sonnet (rhyme scheme aabbccddeeffgg) “Petra” which won the Newdigate Prize in 1845. The poem refers to Petra as the inaccessible city which he had heard described but had never seen: It seems no work of Man’s creative hand, by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned; But from the rock as if by magic grown, eternal, silent, beautiful, alone! Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine, where erst Athena held her rites divine; Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane, that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain; But rose-red as if the blush of dawn, that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn; The hues of youth upon a brow of woe, which Man deemed old two thousand years ago, match me such marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time
Al Khazneh or The Treasury at Petra
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Roman rule
The Theatre
Petra siq in 1947 (left) compared with the same location in 2013
In 106 AD, when Cornelius Palma was governor of Syria, the part of Arabia under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the Roman Empire as part of Arabia Petraea and became its capital. The native dynasty came to an end but the city continued to flourish under Roman rule. It was around this time that the Petra Roman Road was built. A century later, in the time of Alexander Severus, when the city was at the height of its splendor, the issue of coinage comes to an end. There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing
apparently to some sudden catastrophe, such as an invasion by the neo-Persian power under the Sassanid Empire. Meanwhile, as Palmyra (fl. 130–270) grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra, the latter declined. It appears, however, to have lingered on as a religious centre. Another Roman road was constructed at the site. Epiphanius of Salamis (c.315–403) writes that in his time a feast was held there on December 25 in honor of the virgin Khaabou (Chaabou) and her offspring Dushara .
Petra today The narrow passage (Siq) that leads to Petra
Byzantine mosaic in the Byzantine Church of Petra
On December 6, 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site. Some of the sights of Petra are available on Google Street View.
Chichen Itz Spanish: Chichén Itzá, from Yucatec Maya: Chi’ch’èen Ìitsha’ .“at the mouth of the well of the Itza”) was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Tinum, in the Mexican state of Yucatán.
Chichen Itza
is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico; an estimated 1.2 million tourists visit the ruins every year.
History The layout of Chichen Itza site core developed during its earlier phase of occupation, between 750 and 900 AD. Its final layout was developed after 900 AD, and the 10th century saw the rise of the city as a regional capital controlling the area from central Yucatán to the north coast, with its power extending down the east and west coasts of the peninsula.[20] The earliest hieroglyphic date discovered at Chichen Itza is equivalent to 832 AD, while the last known date was recorded in the Osario temple in 998.
Establishment The Late Classic city was centered upon the area to the southwest of the Xtoloc cenote, with the main architecture represented by the substructures now underlying the Las Monjas and Observatorio and the basal platform upon which they were built.
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Spanish conquest Excavations next to El Castillo began in 2009
The tzompantli or Skull Platform
Detail of Temple of the Warriors showing Chac Mool.
The serpent effect observed during the 2009 spring equinox
In 1526 Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo (a veteran of the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions) successfully petitioned the King of Spain for a charter to conquer Yucatán. His first campaign in 1527, which covered much of the Yucatán peninsula, decimated his forces but ended with the establishment of a small fort at Xaman Ha’, south of what is today Cancún. Montejo returned to Yucatán in 1531 with reinforcements and established his main base at Campeche on the west coast. He sent his son, Francisco Montejo The Younger, in late 1532 to conquer the interior of the Yucatán Peninsula from the north. The objective from the beginning was to go to Chichén Itzá and establish a capital.
Montejo the Younger eventually arrived at Chichen Itza, which he renamed Ciudad Real. At first he encountered no resistance, and set about dividing the lands around the city and awarding them to his soldiers. The Maya became more hostile over time, and eventually they laid siege to the Spanish, cutting off their supply line to the coast, and forcing them to barricade themselves among the ruins of the ancient city. Months passed, but no reinforcements arrived. Montejo the Younger attempted an all out assault against the Maya and lost 150 of his remaining troops. He was forced to abandon Chichén Itzá in 1534 under cover of darkness. By 1535, all Spanish had been driven from the Yucatán Peninsula.
Colosseum
The or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium; Italian: Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo) is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and stone, it is the largest amphitheatre in the world, and is considered one of the greatest works of architecture and engineering. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 72 AD, and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian. These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name (Flavius).
The name Colosseum has long been believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Nero nearby (the statue of Nero was named after the Colossus of Rhodes).[citation needed] This statue was later remodeled by Nero’s successors into the likeness of Helios (Sol) or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. Nero’s head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors. Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well
into the medieval era and was credited with magical powers. It came to be seen as an iconic symbol of the permanence of Rome.
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The Colosseum in a 1757 engraving by Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Sestertius of Titus celebrating the inauguration of the Colosseum (minted 80 AD)
During the 16th and 17th century, Church officials sought a productive role for the Colosseum. Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590) planned to turn the building into a wool factory to provide employment for Rome’s prostitutes, though this proposal fell through with his premature death. In 1671 Cardinal Altieri authorized its use for bullfights; a public outcry caused the idea to be hastily abandoned. Allied troops consult a guidebook outside the Colosseum after liberation in 1944 In 1749, Pope Benedict XIV endorsed the view that the Colosseum was a sacred site where early Christians had been martyred. He forbade the use of the Colosseum as a quarry and consecrated the building to the Passion of Christ and installed Stations of the Cross, declaring it sanctified by the blood of the Christian martyrs who perished there (see Christians and the Colosseum). However there is no historical evidence to support Benedict’s claim, nor is there even any evidence that anyone prior to the 16th century suggested this might be the case; the Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that there are no historical grounds for the supposition. Interior of the Colosseum, Rome (1832) by Thomas Cole, showing the Stations of the Cross around the arena and the extensive vegetationLater popes initiated various stabilization and restoration projects, removing the extensive vegetation which had overgrown the structure and threatened to damage it further. The façade was reinforced with triangular brick wedges in 1807 and 1827, and the interior was repaired in 1831, 1846 and in the 1930s. The arena substructure was partly excavated in 1810–1814 and 1874 and was fully exposed under Benito Mussolini in the 1930s.
The Colosseum is today one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions, receiving millions of visitors annually. The effects of pollution and general deterioration over time prompted a major restoration programme carried out between 1993 and 2000, at a cost of 40 billion Italian lire ($19.3m / €20.6m at 2000 prices). In recent years the Colosseum has become a symbol of the international campaign against capital punishment, which was abolished in Italy in 1948. Several anti–death penalty demonstrations took place in front of the Colosseum in 2000. Since that time, as a gesture against the death penalty, the local authorities of Rome change the color of the Colosseum’s night time illumination from white to gold whenever a person condemned to the death penalty anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released, or if a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty. Most recently, the Colosseum was illuminated in gold when capital punishment was abolished in the American state of New Mexico in April 2009. Because of the ruined state of the interior, it is impractical to use the Colosseum to host large events; only a few hundred spectators can be accommodated in temporary seating. However, much larger concerts have been held just outside, using the Colosseum as a backdrop. Performers who have played at the Colosseum in recent years have included Ray Charles (May 2002), Paul McCartney (May 2003), Elton John (September 2005), and Billy Joel (July 2006)
Machu Picchu (in hispanicized spelling, Spanish pronunciation or Machu Pikchu (Quechua machu old, old person, pikchu peak; mountain or prominence with a broad base which ends in sharp peaks,“old peak”, pronunciation is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region, Urubamba Province,
Machupicchu
District in Peru. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often mistakenly referred to as the “Lost City of the Incas”, it is the most familiar icon of Inca civilization. Human sacrifice, aliens and mysticism There is little information on human sacrifices taking place at Machu Picchu. This can be attributed to the fact that many sacrifices were never given a proper burial and their skeletal remains have succumbed to the elements. However, there is evidence that indicates the use of retainer sacrifices. In these unique cases, human sacrifices were made to accompany a deceased noble in the afterlife. Although human sacrifices occurred, it was much more common to offer animal, liquid, and dirt sacrifices to the gods.
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Demystifying the discovery of Machu Picchu
Inti Watana is believed to have been designed as an a stronomic clock or calendar by the Incas
T
emple of the Sun or Torreon
The discovery of Machu Picchu and much of its history has been glorified by Hiram Bingham. This issue has come to light after Hiram’s son, Alfred, discovered a collection of letters that his father had sent his mother in 1911. Due to early publications, many people were led to believe that Hiram had long sought after the lost city of the Incas and eventually found it after trekking through a hazardous tropical jungle. Alfred Bingham reveals that this was not the case. In actuality, Machu Picchu was not a chief objective of Hiram’s 1911 expedition. Nor was the search for the city long and dangerous. Hiram had been led to the location just forty-eight hours after beginning his journey. The road to Machu Picchu was not hidden in a treacherous wilderness, rather it was located next to a heavily populated region of farmers. Furthermore, Hiram frequently claimed that the paths to Machu Picchu were the most inaccessible in all of the Andes. However, the letters indicate that Hiram used a modern road system and travelled to the region with ease. It is said that the original journey only took Hiram one hour and a half’s time. Today, tourists can make the trip from the train line to the ruins in fifteen minutes. Alfred further demystifies his father’s expedition after discovering a series of unpublished photographs from the original journey. Hiram had claimed that all the ruins of Machu Picchu were covered in a dense vegetation.
Great Wall of China
The is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and empires against the raids and invasions of the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century bc these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger, are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built 220–206 bc by Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of China. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty.
Name In Chinese histories, the term “Long Wall(s)” changcheng) appears in Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, where it referred to both the separate great walls built between and north of the Warring States and to the more unified construction of the First Emperor.The Chinese character is a phono-semantic compound of the “place” or “earth” radical and , whose Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as *de. It originally referred to the rampart which surrounded traditional Chinese cities and was used by extension for these walls around their respective states; today, however, it is much more often simply the Chinese word for “city”.
Great Wall of China The name “Ten-Thousand-Mile Long Wall” (Wanli Changcheng) came from Sima Qian’s description of it in the Records
The current English name evolved from accounts of “the Chinese wall” from early modern European travelers. By the 19th century,“The Great Wall of China” had become standard in English, French, and German, although other European languages continued to refer to it as “the Chinese wall”.
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very few sections remain today. The human cost of the
Early walls
The Great Wall at Mutianyu, near Beijing
A section of the Great Wall near Beijin
The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn period between the 8th and 5th centuries bc.[20] During this time and the subsequent Warring States period, the states of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan, and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. King Zheng of Qin conquered the last of his opponents and unified China as the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (“Qin Shihuang”) in 221 bc. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the sections of the walls that divided his empire among the former states. To position the empire against the Xiongnu people from the north, however, he ordered the building of new walls to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire’s northern frontier. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and
construction is unknown, but it has been estimated by some authors that hundreds of thousands, if not up to a million, workers died building the Qin wall. Later, the Han, the Sui, and the Northern dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders. [27] The Tang and Song dynasties did not undertake any significant effort in the region. The Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, who ruled Northern China throughout most of the 10th–13th centuries, constructed defensive walls in the 12th century but those were located much to the north of the Great Wall as we know it, within China’s province of Inner Mongolia and in Mongolia itselFfMing era The Great Wall concept was revived again under the Ming in the 14th century,[29] and following the Ming army’s defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper hand over the Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert’s southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Yellow River.
Foreign accounts of the Wall Alexander the Great’s erection of a great wall to hold back the savages or monsters of Gog and Magog formed a set piece of his medieval legends. Magog was first mentioned in the Jewish Book of Genesis as the patriarch of an Asian people and a 7th-century bc apocalyptic prophecy of Ezekiel foretold that they would come from the north to threaten Israel before the restoration of God’s Temple in Jerusalem. Alexander’s iron gates, mentioned by Josephus,[ were conflated with these Jewish legends and have been variously connected with the Caspian Gates at Derbent, the Caucasian Gates between Russia and Georgia, the Great Wall of Gorgan in northeastern Iran, and with confused accounts of China’s wall
Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor, standard Brazilian Portuguese, local dialect: is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. It is 30 metres (98 ft) tall, not including its 8-metre (26 ft) pedestal, and its arms stretch 28 metres (92 ft) wide. The statue weighs 635 metric tons (625 long, 700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city of Rio. As a symbol of Brazilian Christianity, the statue has become an icon for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931
Restoration A close-up view of the face In 1990, restoration work was conducted through an agreement among several organizations, including the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, media company Rede Globo, oil company Shell do Brasil, environmental regulator IBAMA, National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage, and the city government of Rio de Janeiro. More work on the statue and its environs was conducted in 2003 and early 2010. In 2003, a set of escalators, walkways, and elevators were installed to facilitate access to the platform surrounding the statue. The four-month restoration in 2010[18] focused on the statue itself. The statue’s internal structure was renovated and its soapstone mosaic covering was restored by removing a crust of fungi and other microorganisms and repairing small cracks. The lightning rods located in the statue’s head and arms were also repaired, and new lighting fixtures were installed at the foot of the statue.
Christ the Redeemer The restoration involved one hundred people and used more than 60,000 pieces of stone taken from the same quarry as the original statue.[18] During the unveiling of the restored statue, it was illuminated with green-andyellow lighting in support of the Brazil national football team playing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Maintenance work needs to be conducted periodically due to the strong winds and erosion to which the statue is exposed, as well as lightning strikes. The original pale stone is no longer available in sufficient quantities, and replacement stones are increasingly darker in hue. Corcovado Rack Railway
Access escalators
History The idea of building a large statue atop Corcovado was first suggested in the mid-1850s, when Vincentian priest, Pedro Maria Boss, suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado to honour Princess Isabel, princess regent of Brazil and the daughter of Emperor Pedro II, although the project was never approved. In 1889, the country became a republic and, with the official separation of state and church, the idea was dismissed. The second proposal for a landmark statue on the mountain was made in 1920, by the Catholic Circle of Rio. The group organized an event called Semana do Monumento (“Monument Week”) to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. What motivated the organization was what they perceived as ‘Godlessness’ in the society at the time. The donations came mostly from Brazilian Catholics. The designs considered for the “Statue of the Christ” included a representation of the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer with open arms, a symbol of peace, was chosen.
Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue; it was sculpted by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski. The face of the statue was created by Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida, who was born in Galati, Romania, in 1893. He studied sculpture at the Fine Arts Conservatory in Bucharest, then, after three more years’ study in Italy, he won a prize for the sculpture Reveil (“Awakening”). After that he moved to Paris, where his work, Le Diable (“The Devil”), was awarded the Grand Prix. Becoming famous in France as portraitist, he was included by Paul Landowski in the team that started working on Christ the
Redeemer in 1922. Gheorghe Leonida contributed by portraying Jesus Christ’s face on the statue, which made him famous. A group of engineers and technicians studied Landowski’s submissions and the decision was made to build the structure out of reinforced concrete (designed by Albert Caquot) instead of steel, more suitable for the cross-shaped statue. The outer layers are soapstone, chosen for its enduring qualities and ease of use. Construction took nine years, from 1922 to 1931 and cost the equivalent of US$250,000 ($3,300,000 in 2015). The monument was opened on October 12, 1931. During the opening ceremony, the statue was lit by a battery of floodlights turned on remotely by shortwave radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, stationed 5,700 miles (9,200 km) away in Rome. view of the statue at night In October 2006, on the 75th anniversary of the statue’s completion, Archbishop of Rio, Cardinal Eusebio Oscar Scheid, consecrated a chapel, named after Brazil’s patron saint—Our Lady of the Apparition, under the statue. This allows Catholics to hold baptisms and weddings there. The statue was struck by lightning during a violent thunder storm on February 10, 2008, and suffered some damage to the fingers, head and eyebrows. A restoration effort was put in place by the Rio de Janeiro state government to replace some of the outer soapstone layers and repair the lightning rods installed on the statue. It was damaged by lightning again, on January 17, 2014, where a finger on the right hand was dislodged. In 2010, a massive restoration of the statue was undertaken. The statue was washed, the mortar and soapstone that cover the statue were replaced, the internal structure of iron was restored, and the monument was made waterproof. The statue was vandalized during renovation, wherein paint was sprayed along the arm. Mayor Eduardo Paes called the act “a crime against the nation”. The culprits later apologised and presented themselves to the police.
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