The history of the statue of Christ the Redeemer began in the XVI century, when the Portuguese named the peak, which is the statue, "the mountain of temptation", mentioned in the Bible. After some time the mountain was renamed Corcovado (Corcovado), which means "the hunchback". It is nicknamed the peak was due to the freakish form, reminiscent of a hump. Historically witnessed the fact of the existence of mountains, the future of the pedestal of the statue of Christ the Redeemer, registered in 1824, when for the first time there was an official expedition on 700-meter mount Corcovado.
In 1859, a Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss arrived in Rio de Janeiro and was struck by the mysterious beauty of Corcovado mountain. Soon father Pedro offered to build on its top of the monument to Christ, and asked the appropriation of Princess Isabel, the daughter of the then Brazilian Emperor Pedro II. For what would be the chances of getting funds increased, savvy Pedro proposed Statue devote the Princess. However сиятельная person is not delighted to enormous expenses and deferred consideration of the case until 1889. In the end, "Napoleonic plans" at that time was not materialize, since 1889 the Emperor Pedro II abdicated, and the monarchy was replaced by a Republican rule. Because the Church was legally separated from the state, and thought about the monument moved to the background.
The idea of erection of a statue of Christ the Redeemer "city fathers" come back later. In 1921 the Catholic organizations Rio de Janeiro proposed to build on the Corcovado monument of colossal size, which will be visible from any corner of the amazing Rio, and which will become symbol of a new and free country. Activists held a signature collection and donations among citizens of the city - the event was called the Week of the Monument". The suggestion aroused a great response among the public and the money poured in. The Christ the Redeemer statue can be called a national project. Immediately after the elections were organized for more money for the construction of statues, which took the most active participation of all population of Rio and the district and the Church. The ambitious project has been spent over 2 million flights (250000 dollars) - a huge sum for that time.
In 1922, was the great event of the centennial anniversary of Brazilian independence from Portugal (reported in September annually) , that inspired the leaders of the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro for early decision on the construction of the Christ the Redeemer statue. Preparatory works started on the 22nd of April (according to some - 4 April) , in this day, he laid the first stone for the Foundation of the statue. Material for erection of sculptures was the "soap" stone and concrete.
The administration of Rio de Janeiro has announced a competition for the best project, during which there was serious competition from the side of participants. Offered lots of options for the statue of Christ the Redeemer, in the end, in September of this year, the project of engineer Heitor da Silva Costa (Heitor da Silva Costa) was recognized the best. Concept, proposed by the architect, was that pose Jesus Christ with outstretched arms, was to depict a cross and a massive pedestal, a globe (however, in consequence, the shape of the base has been changed) . Thus, the sculpture is called to bring the people one thought - "All things are in the hands of God".
The final project of the monument was designed by a talented artist Carlos Oswald (Carlos Oswald). Finally, in 1927, the creative team of architects, artists and engineers constructed a model of the statue of various sizes, and all was ready for the construction of the monument. Necessary calculations made Costa Хиссес (Coast Hisses). He helped Pedro Vyana (Pedro Viana) and Heitor levy (Heitor Levy), which during the whole period of erecting statues lived near the monument under the canopy of the forest.