A hunchback of stone
Early Portuguese navigators called the peak the Pinnacle of Temptation. The name that stuck describes its shape: corcovado means “hunchbacked”. It is 710 meters of rock covered by the Tijuca Forest, right next to Laranjeiras.
Emperor Pedro II’s train
On October 9, 1884, Emperor Pedro II opened the Corcovado Railway, which climbs 3.8 km through the forest from Cosme Velho, the neighborhood next to Laranjeiras. The train was electrified in 1910. Later it carried the materials for the statue to the summit, piece by piece.
Its passengers have included Princess Isabel, Santos Dumont, Albert Einstein, Popes Pius XII and John Paul II, and Princess Diana.
From dream to monument
The idea of a religious monument on Corcovado dates back to the Empire, but it only gained momentum in 1920 with a campaign by Rio’s Catholic Circle. The cornerstone was laid in 1922, the centenary of Brazil’s independence.
The design chosen in 1923 was by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, with drawings by artist Carlos Oswald. French sculptor Paul Landowski modeled the statue and Romanian Gheorghe Leonida sculpted the face. The structure is reinforced concrete, clad in a mosaic of thousands of soapstone triangles from Minas Gerais.
October 12, 1931
Christ the Redeemer was inaugurated on the feast day of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil’s patron saint. The statue is 30 meters tall on an 8-meter pedestal, and measures 28 meters from hand to hand.
In 2007 it was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World; in 2012 it became part of the Rio landscape declared World Heritage by UNESCO.
Music & bohemian life
Tom Jobim’s Corcovado
In 1960, Tom Jobim wrote “Corcovado”, recorded that same year by João Gilberto on the album O Amor, o Sorriso e a Flor. The song speaks of a calm evening for two, a guitar playing, and Christ the Redeemer framed by the window — a scene every Mirante guest will recognize.
With English lyrics by Gene Lees, it became “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars”, a bossa nova standard recorded by artists all over the world.