“With arms spread wide as if to embrace the whole city of Rio de Janeiro sprawling below in spectacular disorder — the Cristo Redentor statue can be seen from all over town.” The 100-ft high statue stands on top of Corcovado (“hunchback”) Mountain, itself 2,310 feet high. It was designed by the French/Polish sculptor, Paul Landowski, and commissioned in 1822 to commemorate Brazil’s 100 years of independence. The classic way to visit the statue is on the 2.3-mile cog railway, known in Portuguese as “Trem do Corcovado”.
As the sun sets, the number of market stands multiply, grills are lit, drums start to roll and the evening begins. The square and surrounding streets seems to be packed solid with people every day from about 7pm.
We hope that these photos give some impression of what it was like.
Polly took a short video of the square one evening. You can find it here. We think it gives some feeling of what the buzz and excitement we felt being there.