Inaugurated in 1931 on top of Rio's Mt Corcovado, the monument is considered the largest Art Deco-style sculpture on earth. Nearly two million people visit ever year and in 2010 the statue underwent a $4 million (£2.7m) restoration.
With less than three years to go until the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, preparations for remain dogged by construction delays, financial uncertainties, environmental worries of littered beaches and waterways, and possible public protests.
Would you like to know more about the city without visiting? My wonderful writing partner wrote the thriller, 'Strays of Rio'. (Click to follow link.)
The adventure carried me through the beauty and degradation of the city in a wild ride akin to Lisa's jump off the cliff with Tony to paraglide in the uplift beneath the stretched arms of the Christo Redentor statue.
Have you ever been to Rio?