No visitor to Rio should miss the trip up the "Humpback" - although the weather is a crucial factor, due to the fact that Rio's skies are not always as blue as picture postcards would have visitors believe. In fact, owing to its relatively high elevation of 709 meters and its situation in the middle of the Tijuca Forest, thick clouds often accumulate around the peak, hiding it from view. The rule of thumb best followed is: If there are no clouds around Corvocado, go up the mountain immediately. If the statue of Christ is covered in clouds, you'd better wait; your patience will be rewarded!
In 1931, five years after it was begun, this 38-meter-high reinforced concrete monument was consecrated, and has since attained the status almost of an urban icon. Christ rises 30 meters into the air, with his hands spread 28 meters apart. The statue weighs a total of 1,145 tons. Inside the pedestal is a chapel in which mass is said on Sundays at 11:30 a.m. Even anything-but-spry Pope Paul II climbed the 220 steps to the top of Corcovado during his visit to Brazil in 1991. The peak affords a panorama of Guanabara Bay, including Sugar Loaf, the city center, Maracana Stadium, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, and the most beautiful beaches.
The 3.8-kilometer trip in the Swissmade cog-wheel railway (operating hours: 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.) is an experience rendered unforgettable, especially for nature-lovers, by the abundance of secondary growth, coffee and banana plants, and citrus fruits and orchids that are glimpsed along the way.
Visitors who make the trip by car or taxi have the opportunity to descend the mountain by way of Estrada do Redentor, which passes through Tijuca Forest, the most extensive continuous green area of any large city in the world. Cariocas owe its existence to Emperor Dom Pedro II, who in the 19th century ordered the entire site (at the time a huge coffee plantation) reforested.
Largo do Boticario, one of Rio's last remaining colonial architectural treasures, is located approximately 200 meters north of the cable railway station at Corcovado. Here, lovingly restored buildings are tastefully arrayed on a small cobblestoned square girdled by fan palms and bamboo.
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