Imposing constructions that often depict deities or national heroes , made to glorify the deeds of these individuals who really existed or to worship legendary religious figures: the statues are present all over the world and are often a destination for tourist travel or pilgrimages.
Sometimes the artist who made them is important, other times the area in which they are located is unique, such as the top of a mountain or in the center of the city that hosts them.
The Statue of Liberty, the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s Pieta up to the huge Christ the Redeemer of Rio de Janeiro: these are just some of the best known and even tallest statues in the world.
However, there are other constructions that achieve real records of majesty with their immeasurable height . Here is the ranking of the highest statues in the world !
10 – Buddha of Ling Shan, China: 88 meters
It is one of the tallest Buddha statues in China and is located in the Longshan Mountains. It is entirely made of bronze and measures 88 meters , was completed in the year 1996 and weighs 700 tons in all .
9 – Big Buddha of Thailand: 92 meters
Photo by Stephanie Richard. It is the largest statue in the state, it is made of concrete and covered with gold paint. The construction of this statue took 18 years: it began in 1990 and ended in 2008.
8 – Statue of liberty, United States of America: 93 meters
It is one of the most famous statues in the world and represents a female figure holding a torch and a “tabula ansata”, a tablet with a characteristic dovetail ornament, on which the date of the American Declaration of Independence is engraved .
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The woman represented is, more precisely, the Roman goddess of freedom called Libertas. She was donated by the French people to the United States on October 28, 1886, and is 93 meters high(including the 47 meter pedestal) and is visible up to 40 kilometers away. It is made of steel armor covered with copper plates, weighing a total of 204 tons .
7 – Statue of Peter the Great, Russia: 96 meters
Photo by Gennady Grachev. This statue located in Moscow, Russia really has a curious history . It was made in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, but initially it depicted Christopher Columbus . A quick “change of head” made it possible to recycle the statue, transforming the leading figure into that of Emperor Peter I , who ruled the country for 43 years. It measures 96 meters and is made up of600 tons of stainless steel and bronze .
6 – Sendai Kannon, Japan: 100 meters
Photo by Hideyuki KAMON. It represents the Japanese Buddha Bodhisattva and is located on the top of a hill in Sendai, Japan, which makes it visible from many parts of the city. The figure represented holds a jewel in the left hand and a jug of water in the right hand. It was completed in 1991.
5 – Statue of the emperors Yan and Huang, China: 106 meters
Photo by AidaAgs. The result of twenty years of work, which began in 1987 and ended in 2007, the Chinese statue is a real colossus with its 106 meters in height . It depicts the faces of the emperors Yan Di and Huang Di, symbols ofpolitics and economics .
4 – Ushiku Daibutsu, Japan: 110 meters
Back in Japan for this statue of 110 meters high, 120 with the base in the shape of a lotus leaf, and made of bronze. The statue’s index finger alone measures 7 meters! There are four different levels inside the statue , which can be reached by visitors via an elevator: on the first level it is possible to listen to beautiful music, the second is completely dedicated to the study of the scriptures, the third contains even 30,000 other statues of the Buddha. . From the top you can admire the wonderful gardens that surround the building.
3 – Laykyun Setkyar, Burma: 116 meters
Photo by Tetsuya Kitahata. In second place in the ranking there is again a statue representing the Buddha, this time in Burma and with a height of 116 meters, 129.5 with the pedestal . Construction began in 1996 and finished in 2008.
2 – Buddha Zhōngyuan or Spring Temple Buddha, China: 128 meters
Photo by Nyx Ning. The Buddha Zhōngyuan statue measures 128 meters and is located in China. Completed in 2008, it is placed on a pedestal that increases the height by another 20 meters and is made up of 1,100 pieces of molten copper .
The name of the statue derives from that of the Buddhist temple located at its foot, which in turn takes it from the nearby Tianrui Hot Spring, a thermal spring famous in China for its therapeutic properties . Its construction is a response to the Taliban’s destruction of Buddha statues in Afghanistan and to precede India’s project to build the largest statue in the world. Externally it is made up of 1,100 copper sheets and the total weight is about 1000 tons .
1 – Statue of Unita, India: 182 meters
Photo by Vijay B. Barot. The big toe alone is as high as a basketball hoop, and to reach the head you have to climb 182 meters.
This mammoth sculpture overlooks the green hills and Narmada River in the western state of Gujarat, India. It is almost the size of two vertically stacked football fields. It was designed by Ram V. Sutar and cost a whopping $ 400 million .
