Move over Rio! In an effort to woo tourists, the Brazilian town of Encantado has built a statue of Jesus that is 4.9 metres taller than the famed Christ the Redeemer monument.
It's one of the defining images of Rio de Janeiro, as ubiquitous as photos of the Brazilian city's famed Copacabana and Ipanema beaches.
But now the famous Christ the Redeemer which stands 38m/125 ft high on a mountain overlooking Rio has competition from another godly statue.
Encantado in southern Brazil has built a Christ the Protector statue, measuring 43m/141 ft, 4.9 metres higher than Rio's structure, CNN reports.
The new statue of Jesus is set to be the third-tallest in the world, after a 249-ft/76m monument being built in Mexico and a 172-ft/52m figure in Poland.
Visitors to the Encantado statue will be able to look out of a heart-shaped window in the body of Christ. The town hopes it will boost religious tourism, with nearly 53,000 people reported to have visited since construction began.
Local businesses are already benefiting. "When the arms and head were installed, it was a worldwide boom. In our hotel, we even received an international reporter. It changed our reality a lot", hotel owner Adriana Rizzi told Globo.
The statue was designed by sculptor Genésio Gomes Moura and his son, Markus Moura. The Associação Amigos de Cristo, a non-profit organisation, will be responsible for its maintenance, Brazilian media reported.
