We’ve previously covered Very Large Buddhas (which were seriously large), so now it’s time to seek out which is the largest Christ statue in the entire world!

Cristo de la Concordia, Bolivia

In Cochabamba, Bolivia we find the Cristo de la Concordia a 33.8m high statue (including 6.2m base), which makes it the third largest Christ in the world. One interesting feature of this monument is that you can climb up the stairs inside his chest, and get an excellent view of the city by way of reward.

Christ the Redeemer, Brazil

Possibly the best recognised of all the statues of Christ in the entire world, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil stands 709 m above sea level and measures in at 38 metres tall (including an 8m pedestal). The monument was inaugurated in 1931, and currently receives over two million tourists every year.

Christ the King, Colombia

Located 1,440 m above sea level and weighing in at around 464 tonnes, Christ the King, in Cali Colombia is a seemingly modest 41m, but is considered the largest representation of Jesus Christ in the world¹. The figure was completed in 1953, and at night the view is pretty impressive.

Cristo-Rei de Almada, Portugal

Now we’re talking! The world’s tallest Jesus Christ is surely the Cristo-Rei de Almada in Portugal, as it’s 110 metres tall! Unfortunately this is only the case if we include the height of the base – if not then it’s only a paltry 28m! Completed in 1959 it is of course an important religious and conventional tourist location.

Christ of Copoya, Mexico

Our last Christ is of truly epic proportions. The Christ of Copoya in the Mexican state of Chiapas began its construction in 2006, and when finished will top out a truly enormous 62 metres tall, which will make it the largest figure of Christ in the entire world. At least for a while

Finally, I recommend you also take an aerial tour of the Cristo del Otero in Palencia Spain, the Cristo de las Noas in Coahuila, Cristo del Cubilete in Guanajuato and the Cristo de la Habana.

Locations: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Portugal / Categories: Monuments, Shadows

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With construction ongoing since 1996, the complex consists of five main areas, of which one (L’Oceanogràfic aquarium) was designed by a different architect.

The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia contains 4 performance halls for music, theatre and opera in a building that many would consider designed for inter-galactic travel.

Resembling an immense eye to represent visual arts, L’Hemisfèric houses an IMAX theatre, planetarium and Laserium.

Rising behind is the skeletal form of El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe, a hands-on science museum.

Bordering the decorative pools is L’Umbracle, a landscaped park and sculpture gallery under a network of white arches.

Calatrava’s contributions also include a bridge and central plaza, both of which are currently under construction. However, apartment buildings that were supposed to have been developed in the area have been put on hold for financial reasons.

The forms seen above are reflected in two important buildings on the Atlantic island of Tenerife. The Auditorio de Tenerife on the waterfront of Santa Cruz features a 1600-seat main hall with a pipe organ and a smaller chamber hall, all contained within one of the most amazingly-shaped buildings ever seen.

Also in Santa Cruz, the Tenerife International Centre for Trade Fairs and Congresses features 40,000 square metres of exhibition and meeting space. Thanks to this week’s Street View update, we can also now see it from ground-level.

Another waterfront building can be found by Lake Michigan in the form of the Milwaukee Art Museum which was the first of Calatrava’s projects to be completed in the US. The museum’s main feature is a movable sunshade which can retract in poor weather and at night; it also has a signature cable-stayed bridge.

As with his bridges, not all of Calatrava’s buildings have been popular. The visually stunning Gare do Oriente train station in Lisbon has been criticised for cutting off the city centre from the river, and for not protecting waiting passengers from the elements.

Thanks to the many people who suggested the CAC … paco, Eduardo R. de Lima, Stolz, Arrianus, Carlos Urena, javier, Simone, antonio waller, Sebas Font, Trompie, Michael Zacherl, Pablo, andysamp, Ximet, Andros and Martin.

Locations: Portugal, Spain, Wisconsin / Categories: Buildings, Street Views

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So it’s in Spain where we start with the world’s oldest surviving bullring: Las Virtudes in Santa Cruz de Mudela. It was built way back in 1641, when the bullrings were actually bullsquares – the round shape was adopted later on to prevent the action being confined to the corners.

The style of Spanish bullfighting has changed very little since 1726, when Francisco Romero got off of his horse to fight on foot with the famous red cape and sword.

This tradition was taken with the emigrants to the Americas, where the oldest remaining bullring can be dated back to 1766. By now firmly set on the round shape, Plaza de Acho in Lima, Peru accommodates 13,000 spectators.

Back in Spain, we find the second largest bullring in the world, Las Ventas in Madrid. With a capacity for 25,000 spectators, it has also been used for an AC/DC concert, and hosted a semi-final of 2008′s Davis Cup tennis tournament¹.

To find the largest bullring in the world, we visit what was once the most populated city on the planet: Mexico City. Here we find the gigantic La Plaza Monumental, built in 1946 with a capacity for 41,262 people.

For obvious reasons, bullfighting has drawn a lot of criticism throughout the world, and I’m surprised that these massive venues are still able to draw enough crowds to keep the tradition alive.

However, there are signs that bullfighting will not be around forever: it is no longer televised in Spain, and many opinion polls have shown the majority of the public are just not interested.

In Tijuana, Mexico we can use Google Earth’s historical imagery to see before and after shots of a recently demolished bullring that wasn’t pulling in enough business.

Earlier this year the city of Viana do Castelo in Portugal took the bold step of banning bullfights altogether. Their small ancient bullring will now be used as a “science and education centre”. Presumably bull dissections will not be part of the cirriculum.

This entry is based on an original article from the recently re-launched Google Sightseeing Español, where new author Luis Moreno is posting translated sights from here and original Spanish-langauge content.

Locations: Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain / Categories: Stadiums and Sport

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The aircraft is a relatively rare Convair 880 – there were originally 65 built, but today there are just 8 left in the world. Only one of these has been fully preserved: The Lisa Marie, which used to belong to Elvis Presley.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to pay this historical location a visit, as just a few weeks ago the strip bar was closed down and the plane destroyed.

So there’s only 7 now.

Thanks to Frank.

Locations: Portugal / Categories: Aircraft

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Does that not look like a bearded face at this distance? In fact (maybe I’m just getting carried away in the spirit of the season), but I think that looks quite a lot like Santa Claus!

Thanks to Ricardo Castro.

Locations: Portugal / Categories: Weirdness

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1. Estádio do Dragão (Dragon Stadium) (Porto, capacity 52000)
2. Estádio do Bessa Século XXI (Porto, capacity 30000)
3. Estádio da Luz (Stadium of light) (Lisbon, capacity 65000) – Thumbnail #1
4. Estádio José Alvalade (Lisbon, capacity 52000)
5. Estádio Municipal de Braga (Braga, capacity 30000)
6. Estádio Municipal de Aveiro (Aveiro, capacity 30000) – Thumbnail #2
7. Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques (Guimarães, capacity 30000)

(Algarve, Cidade de Coimbra & Dr. Magalhães Pessoa are in low-resolution areas)

Thanks: DelPiero

Locations: Portugal / Categories: Stadiums and Sport

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Anyway, we had an excellent time at Slide & Splash, which isn’t the biggest water-park in the world, but was great fun regardless The best ride was definitely ‘Banzai’, which you can see running from west to east through the park. It’s basically a straight run down an open pipe, face-first on a mat, and when you reach the bottom the aim is to skim the surface of the water as far as you can go. Our technique rocked! Slide & Splash have an official site where you can check out all the rides if you’re planning a visit.

Thanks to Kerry for coming with me

Locations: Portugal / Categories: Bridges, Crowds, Theme Parks

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Doesn’t look very warm there though if you ask me… which is a shame because I’m going to Portugal tomorrow! Don’t worry, I’m sure James and Olly will look after you guys Have a nice week!

Thanks to Manuel Freitas and florian.

Locations: Portugal / Categories: Buildings, Natural Landmarks

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First up is the Arrábida Bridge over the Douro River in Porto. The bridge is 493 metres long, and at the time of its construction in 1963 it had the largest concrete span of any bridge in the world. If you look closely on the eastern side you can see the curve of the arch underneath the bridge (compare with the image on Wikipedia to see what I mean).

Next up is the Ponte 25 de Abril, which crosses the Tagus river in Lisbon. It was originally named Salazar Bridge but after the Carnation Revolution, the bridge was renamed to 25 April Bridge, the day when the revolution occurred. It’s interesting to have a look at the north side of the shore, where the bridge curves spectacularly over loads of buildings before it eventually touches down (Wikipedia page). We couldn’t work out what this monument on the south bank was though… This monument on the south bank is the Monumento do Cristo-Rei, an imitation of the more famous statue in Rio.

Finally we have the spectacular Vasco da Gama Bridge, which also crosses Lisbon’s Tagus river, but at a much wider point! The Vasco da Gama has a total length of over 17 kilometres and is the longest bridge in Europe. Again, there’s a rather cool curve visible in this one and some cool shadows too (Wikipedia page).

Thanks to Manuel Freitas, Bodo Möller, Jan Brasna, grufo and Joao Ramires.

Locations: Portugal / Categories: Bridges, Monuments, Shadows

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