Cristo Rey (Christ the King)

On Saturday, we took a drive and visited the monument of Cristo Rey. It can be seen from our house, and is not really far, but it took us an hour to get there. (We had to go through a few small towns with many small speed bumps...then slowly drive up the winding, mountain road.)

Here are a few stats about Cristo Rey:

1] It is one of the most important religious monuments in all of Mexico
2] The statue allegedly marks the exact geographical center of Mexico
3] It weighs about 80 ton, stands about 65 1/2 ft. tall, and is made out of bronze
4] It is located on top of Cubilete Mountain at about 8500 ft. in elevation
5] It was erected in 1950/1951 - it replaced a smaller, original statue that was destroyed during the final stages of the Mexican revolution

We stepped into this sanctuary (pictured above) and saw this lady crawling on her knees towards the front. Very sad.

Every Jan. 6, thousands of people journey here to celebrate Epiphany (here in Mexico: the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus). A lot of the pilgrims ride horses up to the shrine.

Family picture (below) with the statue in the background.

A scenic, mountain view taken from the perimeters of the monument.

This is a beautiful temple we passed on our way to Cristo Rey.