''Cristo Rey'' is a statue on top of

Cerro del Cubilete The Cerro del Cubilete ("Dice Cup Hill") is a hill in Silao, Guanajuato, in Mexico. Approximately 30 miles southeast of Léon, it is said to be the geographical center of Mexico. Rising above sea level, Cerro del Cubilete offers a panoramic vie ...

, ('Dice Cup Hill'), a mountain in Silao Municipality in

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Description

Cerro del Cubilete is a religious shrine in

that marks the country's geographical center. The current structure and base for the statue were created by artist Nicholas Mariscal in 1944 to honour the struggle of the Cristeros. It is located 20 kilometers away from Silao and 30 kilometers away from León. It has a height of 2579 meters above sea level, 150 meters taller than the

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. The former Mexican President

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the Nat ...

states that the statue serves as a "rebuke to the suppressors of

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

" who sought to quash the Church during the

persecution of Christians in Mexico The modern history of anticlericalism has often been characterized by deep conflicts between the government and the Catholic Church, sometimes including outright persecution of Catholics in Mexico. Beginning of anticlericalism and persecution ...

during the first half of the twentieth century.Fox, Vicente and Rob Allyn Viking, 2007 The Sanctuary accommodates pilgrims who attend all year round, but in particular for the feast of ''Christ the King'', the last Sunday of the liturgical year, during the month of November.

History

In Silao, the

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Valverde y Téllez was the promoter of the monument construction project and the petitioner for the authorization. This was achieved thanks to the remoteness of the moderate constituents of religious and governmental radicalism prevailing at that moment. Shortly after Valverde's mass, the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Eleuterio de María Santísima Ferrer promoted the placement of a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

. The idea was consolidated to also add an image of the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

. The project was accepted by the bishop, who attended the place on March 12, 1920, to lay the first stone and on April 11 to celebrate the first dedication. The site was originally occupied by a smaller statue of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, ''Christ the King''. It was destroyed in 1928 by the anti-religious (and particularly anti-Catholic) regime of President

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (born Francisco Plutarco Elías Campuzano; 25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the 47th President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. After the assassination of Ál ...

, as part of his mission to kill Christian rebels and destroy all Christian symbols during the nation's critical "

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

", when

state atheism State atheism or atheist state is the incorporation of hard atheism or non-theism into Forms of government, political regimes. It is considered the opposite of theocracy and may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments ...

was enforced. The current installation was completed in 1950.

Design

Both the building at Cerro del Cubilete and the statue of Christ follow the style known as

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

. The current building serves as the basis for the gigantic statue which measures 20 meters and weighs 80 tons. This statue of Christ is the biggest bronze statue in the world. Inside, an altar sits on a circular platform with three steps. A symbolic royal crown was suspended in a large metal dome. Natural light filters through carved slots in the marble walls. The outside of the dome serves as the base of the newer statue, also named ''Christ the King''. Its arms are open, with statues of angels kneeling at either side, one holding the

crown of thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or ) was placed on the head of Jesus during the Passion of Jesus, events leading up to his crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion. It was one of the Arma Christi, instruments of the Passion, e ...

, the other a royal crown. At the foot of the statue of ''Christ the King'' is the modern

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

, shaped like a globe. One can also go by means of a

cobbled Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a ...

road that surrounds the hill until you reach an upper roundabout, which functions as a viewing point.

In popular culture

The sanctuary of Christ is one of the most visited in Mexico, after the

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe The Basilica of Santa María de Guadalupe, officially called Insigne y Nacional Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe (in English: Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe) is a basilica of the Catholic Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary in her invoc ...

and the

Cathedral Basilica of San Juan de los Lagos The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of St. John of the Lakes (), also called San Juan de los Lagos Cathedral, is a Catholic church located in the city of San Juan de los Lagos, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, the seat of the Diocese of San Juan de ...

José Alfredo Jiménez José Alfredo Jiménez Sandoval (; 19 January 1926 – 23 November 1973) was a Mexican singer-songwriter, whose songs are regarded as the basis of modern Regional Mexican music and Rancheras. Early life Jiménez was born in Dolores Hidalgo, ...

mentions Christ and the mountain in his song “Caminos de Guanajuato” (Roads of Guanajuato). A mass is celebrated every January 5 in the churchyard, where thousands of riders usually go with their banners, representing their villages. Also, a representation is made of the

Biblical Magi In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...

and the baby Jesus. Every first Sunday of October, the monument to ''Christ the King'' is visited by thousands of pilgrims or faithful, coming mainly from the cities of León, Irapuato, Celaya, Mexico City; and the states of Michoacán, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Zacatecas, Estado de México, Tlaxcala, Puebla, among others.

References

{{coord, 21.012, N, 101.369, W, display=title, source:eswiki Colossal statues of Jesus Monuments and memorials in Mexico Religious buildings and structures completed in 1944 1944 sculptures Buildings and structures in Guanajuato Tourist attractions in Guanajuato Religion in Guanajuato Monuments and memorials completed in the 1940s 1944 in Mexico

Description

History

Design

In popular culture

See also

References