The 400 ton statue took around 5 years to complete and was the culmination of a dream for local priest Sylwester Zawadzki, who originally envisioned a simple garden sculpture. Instead the gargantuan statue incited debate over whether the monument was tacky or tasteful, with many claiming accidents surrounding the project (Zawadzki suffered a heart attack and the statue’s head fell, crushing a worker’s foot) were a sign that it shouldn’t go forward.
Upon completion last year Christ the King was declared the world’s largest statue of Jesus Christ, a statement that elicits plenty of debate. At 33 meters high (one meter for each year Jesus lived, naturally) he is shorter than Rio’s famed Christ the Redeemer statue. But factor in his crown (three meters) and the mound he stands on (another 16 meters) and he easily dwarfs Rio’s Redeemer. Of course, the folks in Cochamba, Bolivia might have something to say about that – their Cristo de la Concordia statue is over 40 meters tall, which tops both statues if the mound isn’t a factor.
Debate aside, the statue is an impressive feat to find in the Polish countryside regardless of his dimensions, and is worth a visit if you find yourself near Świebodzin.
The best way is to get to Świebodzin is by train, with five direct trains a day leaving from Poznań Główny station. You can go by the EuroCity train, where the journey takes 50 minutes and costs around 70zł for 2nd class ticket, or you can ride the "Osobowy" train – which at 1.5 hours and around 20zł is a better deal. From the train station it is roughly 1km to the monument, so the walk should take about 15 minutes. Tours to the monument from Poznan can be arranged by request with local companies like PTTK .
