World’s tallest Jesus statue being constructed in Armenia

Construction is underway on what organizers say will be the world’s largest statue of Jesus Christ, with the project now targeting a 2027 completion date after years of delays, a forced relocation and sustained opposition from the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Recent photographs published by Radio Free Europe show work progressing on a mountaintop pedestal on Mount Hatis, a peak rising 8,202 feet roughly 18.6 miles northeast of Yerevan. The statue, cast in three sections, is stored in the nearby village of Zovuni and will be airlifted by helicopter to the mountaintop once the pedestal is ready.

The project was announced in January 2022 by Gagik Tsarukyan, an Armenian businessman and opposition politician, who said the statue would “show the path to revival and light to the Armenian people” following Armenia’s devastating military conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The aluminum figure and its pedestal are planned to reach a combined height of 101 meters, or roughly 331 feet, surpassing Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer, which stands 38 meters high, and New York’s Statue of Liberty, which rises 93 meters.

The project has faced a series of setbacks since it was first unveiled.

A groundbreaking ceremony on the summit of Mount Hatis in July 2022 reportedly caused irreversible damage to sections of an ancient fortress on the site.

Armenia’s culture minister, Zhanna Andreasian, announced in January 2025 that construction could not proceed at that location. The pedestal site was moved several hundred meters to a lower peak, permits were issued and work on the foundation resumed in September 2025.

Installation of the statue began the following November.

The Armenian Apostolic Church has opposed the project from the start. Regarded as one of the world’s oldest churches, it considers depictions of Christ in statue form contrary to centuries of Armenian religious tradition.

The church’s Supreme Spiritual Council met on March 23 and reaffirmed its position, stating that it does not consider installation of the statue acceptable, according to a statement from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Jesus statues are treated as idols under Armenian religious tradition, and public Christian monuments in the country are customarily rendered as carved khachkar cross stones.

The council said it would find a platform designed on the principle of those cross stones acceptable as an alternative.

Rare Christ statues that do exist in Armenia have been vandalized.

Armenia’s government expressed support for the privately funded project in 2022 as a potential tourist attraction.

However, public attitudes toward the monument are largely negative, and Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based Regional Studies Center, alleged the project is “rooted in the personal ego” of Tsarukyan, who he called “one of the more egregious corrupt Armenian oligarchs.”

Tsarukyan, who leads the opposition Prosperous Armenia party, has said that once the Jesus statue is finished, he plans to build a monumental Noah’s Ark memorial, claiming the two structures together will attract millions of tourists, according to OC Media.

Tsarukyan’s public profile has also been complicated by legal proceedings involving his son, Nver Tsarukyan, who is wanted in Armenia in connection with a 2024 shooting incident. Nver Tsarukyan traveled to Belarus and Russia after the criminal case was opened and has reportedly remained there. Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said it has formally requested his extradition from Belarus.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would “drag his son back from Belarus by the scruff of his neck and bring him to justice.”

https://www.christianpost.com/news/worlds-tallest-jesus-statue-being-constructed-in-armenia.html