Monumento al Redentore, Bronze statue of Jesus on Monte San Giuliano, Italy.
Monumento al Redentore is a bronze statue standing 485 centimeters tall on Monte San Giuliano in central Sicily. The figure rises from a stone base positioned at approximately 727 meters elevation on the mountainside.
Pope Leo XIII proposed in 1896 twenty monuments across Italy for the Jubilee of 1900. The Sicilian committee chose Monte San Giuliano over Noto, Piazza Armerina and Sutera, thanks to canon Francesco Pulci and the mining wealth of Caltanissetta. The foundation stone was laid on 13 May 1900; the statue, cast by Rosa e Zanazio from two melted papal cannons, was hauled up by six pairs of oxen and blessed on 30 July. The official ceremony was moved to 29 September after King Umberto's assassination.
Locals call the monument 'u' Ridinturi' in Sicilian. The Festa del Redentore is held on 6 August, the Feast of the Transfiguration, with a procession through the streets of the historic centre. Between 2013 and 2015 the square on Monte San Giuliano hosted an infiorata flower festival in August for the same feast.
Access is via marked walking paths that climb up Monte San Giuliano from various starting points on the mountainside. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water, as the ascent is steep and exposed with limited shade along most of the route.
The bronze used to cast the statue came from melted papal cannons, and it took six pairs of oxen to haul the heavy material up the mountainside when it was first installed. This remarkable feat of transportation shows the immense effort required to position the sculpture at its current location.
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