Christ the Redeemer of the Andes, or Cristo Redentor de los Andes, stands at the Uspallata Pass on the border between Argentina and Chile. It rises at 12,572 feet (3,832 meters) above sea level. The bronze statue is 23 feet (7 meters) high on a granite pedestal about 20 feet (6 meters) high. Mateo Alonso of Buenos Aires made it. Molina Civit designed the pedestal.
Bishop Marcelino del Carmen Benavente promised the statue as a reminder of Christ's message of peace, after the Pacts of May in 1902 settled the border dispute. It was unveiled on March 13, 1904. Its pieces traveled 746 miles (1,200 kilometers) by train, then up the mountains by mule.
The cross was remade in 1916, and the province of Mendoza carried out a major repair in 1993. The statue was declared a National Historic Monument of Argentina. The road to the pass is open only in snow-free summer.
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