And finally… monumental

Construction work has begun for a Virgin Mary statue in Poland that will be taller than the Christ the Redeemer monument in Rio de Janeiro.
Set for Konotopie, a small village located between Lipno and Toruń, in the municipality of Kikół, the structure will be 55.6 metres high.
However, the statue of the Virgin Mary itself will be more than 40 metres tall, and the 15-metre-high pedestal in the form of a crown will become an observation deck.
This means that the statue will surpass the world-famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, which with its plinth is only 38.5 metres high. Unfortunately, it does not win in the category of the tallest statue of Mary in the world, as one is located in the Philippines and is almost 100 metres high.
“Demolition work is currently underway on the plot of land where the investment is to be built,” the mayor of Kikol Renata Golębiewska told Euronews. “We didn’t think it would become such a sensation in Poland and abroad.”
The monumental project was conceived and financed by a pair of Poland’s richest people, the billionaire Roman Karkosik and his wife Grażyna. The municipality has known about the construction plans since 2023.
The location of the statue is not accidental - it is being erected in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows in Konotop, which is famous for its miraculous statue of Mary. This place has been attracting pilgrims from all over Poland for years.
Local authorities hope that the investment will provide a vital boost to Konotop visitor numbers and make the region famous throughout the world. The monument will be a place of prayer, but also an important venue for cultural events.
“We hope that tourists and pilgrims will come to us and see what a beautiful municipality we have by the way,” stressed Golębiewska.
Construction work is expected to be completed by mid-2026.