World’s tallest Christ the King statue in Poland
Soaring 36 metres towards the heavens, the Christ of Swiebodzin in Poland wears a crown of gold and as of this weekend dethroned Brazil’s landmark Jesus of Rio de Janeiro as the world’s tallest statue of Christ. “It is the work of my life. My first...
Soaring 36 metres towards the heavens, the Christ of Swiebodzin in Poland wears a crown of gold and as of this weekend dethroned Brazil’s landmark Jesus of Rio de Janeiro as the world’s tallest statue of Christ.
“It is the work of my life. My first vocation was to become a priest. My second was to build the statue,” local Roman Catholic priest Sylwester Zawadzki, who launched the project five years ago, said.
Fr Zawadzki watched anxiously on Saturday as workers mounted the final pieces of the Christ figure, arms stretched wide and the massive head, using an enormous crane which was brought in especially for the extra-hefty load.
The white robed figure located 50 kilometres from the Polish-German border and visible from the A2 highway linking Warsaw and Berlin, weighs in at an estimated 440 tonnes.
A group of faithful huddled in the rain applauded and chanted “Thank you, thank you” towards Fr Zawadzki as the head was mounted in place. Then facing the figure, they prayed and sang religious hymns.
“I didn’t especially mean to build the world’s tallest Christ. I just wanted it to measure 33 metres like the 33 years that Christ was alive,” Fr Zawadzki said, adding the three-metre-high golden crown brings the total height to 36 meters, three metres higher than the Jesus of Rio.
It rests on a mound of earth 16 metres high and its arms stretch 24 metres wide. Like the robed Christ figures in Concordia, Bolivia, and in Rio de Janeiro, the statue of Swiebodzin is entirely white but it is the golden crown that distinguishes the Polish Jesus.
“This will symbolise Swiebodzin. Our priest has made a second Czestochowa,” rejoiced resident Izabela Sawicz, 32, referring to the famous shrine of the Black Madonna in the southern Polish city, the most important destination for religious pilgrimages in this devoutly Catholic country.
“This is a very good investment. This will promote the town and attract tourists,” says Edmund Miara, a local government official, while stressing no public money was spent on the statue.