A business tycoon with political ambitions is planning to build the world’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ in his home country of Armenia.
Gagik Tsarukyan told the Guardian newspaper in the UK that “Christianity will become Armenia’s new brand” and that the statue would become known as “Armenia’s calling card”.
Standing 101 metres (331ft) tall, the monument will be erected on the summit of Mount Hatis, which rises 2,500 metres (8,200ft) above sea level. The mountain is about 25km east of Yerevan, and the statue is expected to be visible from much of the Armenian capital.
Tsarukyan received less than 4% of the vote in the country’s recent parliamentary election. A controversial figure, the former athlete built a business empire spanning gambling, alcohol and mining in the decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to the Guardian.
Tsarukyan believes the statue, which has been under construction on and off since 2022 and has yet to be transported up the mountain, will dwarf Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer, which stands 38 metres (125ft) tall, including its pedestal.
“We are the oldest Christian nation in the world,” Tsarukyan told the Guardian. “It only makes sense we should have the biggest Jesus statue in the world.”
Tsarukyan is also constructing a gigantic Noah’s Ark and has described both projects as “sacred”.
“These projects are sacred,” he told the newspaper. “This is how I will inscribe my name in history, for the world to see during my lifetime and long after.”
