Cristo del Otero

Palencia, Spain

The Cristo del Otero (Christ of the Knoll) is a large sculpture and symbol of the city of Palencia. It was built in 1931 according to the project of sculptor Victorio Macho. It has a style reminiscent of Art Deco with Cubist resonances and echoes of ancient Egyptian art in the hieratic pose of the figure.

It is one of the highest statues of Jesus Christ in the world. At his feet is carved a chapel (called Santa Maria del Otero) and a small museum with items by the architect. At the entrance to the chapel is a small terrace and a gazebo there is the view of the city.

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Depósitos del Otero 5, Palencia, Spain
See all sites in Palencia

Details

Founded: 1931
Category: Statues in Spain

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Palencia Cathedral (2 km)
Museo de Palencia (2,2 km)
Sarmiento Castle (5,5 km)


Plaza Mayor (45 km)
Valladolid Cathedral (44,8 km)
Santa María La Antigua (44,6 km)
Iglesia de San Pablo (44,3 km)
Museo Nacional de Escultura (44,3 km)
San Benito el Real (44,8 km)
Royal Palace of Valladolid (44,4 km)
San Zoilo Monastery (35,3 km)
Monastery of San Antón (46 km)

User Reviews

Gerard Fleming (16 months ago)
It's about 50 minutes walk from Suances motorhome parking. You don't actually get near the statue but the is lovely views of the city and the flat plains beyond.
Juan Carlos Rojo Aguado (2 years ago)
expectacular.
ian tudor (2 years ago)
The third largest statue of Jesus Christ So it's well worth a visit..
Helena (2 years ago)
The world's third largest Jesus will not disappoint! See the Lord on top of a hill on the outskirts of a minor town. The Big Jesus was impressive in its artistic style, seen in the impressive architecture. There is a museum at the feet of Jesus to explain the design of the Third Largest Jesus in the world (behind the one in Rio Di Janeiro and another massive Jesus) with information in Spanish (not surprising seeing as it is in Spain). The view was also amazing. The only disturbing thing about this particularly large son of the Lord was that He had no eyes in his eye sockets. This was so people could look out of them, but from a distance he doesn't look how Jesus has been traditionally depicted (i.e. with eyes). This humongous third of the Holy Trinity was overall very good.
Dani Griffin (4 years ago)
Jesus!
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In 1151 King Konrad III ended a dispute over who should inherit Cochem Castle by laying siege to it and taking possession of it himself. That same year it became an official Imperial Castle (Reichsburg) subject to imperial authority. In 1282 it was Habsburg King Rudolf’s turn, when he conquered the Reichsburg Cochem and took it over. But just 12 years later, in 1294, the newest owner, King Adolf of Nassau pawned the castle, the town of Cochem and the surrounding region in order to finance his coronation. Adolf’s successor, Albrecht I, was unable to redeem the pledge and was forced to grant the castle to the archbishop in nearby Trier and the Electorate of Trier, which then administered the Reichsburg continuously, except for a brief interruption when Trier’s Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg had to pawn the castle to a countess. But he got it back a year later.

The Electorate of Trier and its nobility became wealthy and powerful in large part due to the income from Cochem Castle and the rights to shipping tolls on the Moselle. Not until 1419 did the castle and its tolls come under the administration of civil bailiffs (Amtsmänner). While under the control of the bishops and electors in Trier from the 14th to the 16th century, the castle was expanded several times.

In 1688 the French invaded the Rhine and Moselle regions of the Palatinate, which included Cochem and its castle. French troops conquered the Reichsburg and then laid waste not only to the castle but also to Cochem and most of the other surrounding towns in a scorched-earth campaign. Between that time and the Congress of Vienna, the Palatinate and Cochem went back and forth between France and Prussia. In 1815 the western Palatinate and Cochem finally became part of Prussia once and for all.

Louis Jacques Ravené (1823-1879) did not live to see the completion of his renovated castle, but it was completed by his son Louis Auguste Ravené (1866-1944). Louis Auguste was only two years old when construction work at the old ruins above Cochem began in 1868, but most of the new castle took shape from 1874 to 1877, based on designs by Berlin architects. After the death of his father in 1879, Louis Auguste supervised the final stages of construction, mostly involving work on the castle’s interior. The castle was finally completed in 1890. Louis Auguste, like his father, a lover of art, filled the castle with an extensive art collection, most of which was lost during the Second World War.

In 1942, during the Nazi years, Ravené was forced to sell the family castle to the Prussian Ministry of Justice, which turned it into a law school run by the Nazi government. Following the end of the war, the castle became the property of the new state of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate). In 1978 the city of Cochem bought the castle for 664,000 marks.

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