The “Christ Protector” statue is being built in Encantado, a small town in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, by a local organization called the Association of Friends of Christ (AACristo).
Made of steel and concrete, it will be 43 meters (161 feet) taller than the Christ the Redeemer of Rio, according to AACristo.
The statue is 141 feet tall.
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The organization said the statue will be the third tallest statue of Jesus in the world, after a 249-foot statue under construction in Mexico and a 172-foot monument in Poland.
The statue is the work of the sculptor Genésio Gomes Moura and his son, Markus Moura. The head and arms were installed on April 6 and construction, which began in July 2019, should be completed by the end of this year, according to AACristo.
It measures 16 meters longer than the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
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It will cost about $ 353,000 in total and AACristo is asking for donations to finish the project.
An elevator installed inside the statue will take tourists to a viewpoint at the height of the heart of Christ.
“It will be a glass opening from where people will be able to film and photograph the valley,” project supervisor Artur Lopes de Souza said on the AACristo website.
The aim is to boost tourism in the area, which is close to Brazil’s borders with Uruguay and Argentina.
The statue of Christ the Redeemer has been looking at the city of Rio de Janeiro for almost 90 years and is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Brazil.