hidden europe 45

Tall statements

by hidden europe

Summary

Faith has evidently replaced politics as the motivation for some of the world's tallest sculptures. In Europe, the largest such structure is the massive statue of Jesus Christ at Swiebodzin in western Poland.

The Brittany statues described in Patricia Stoughton’s feature in this issue of hidden europe, though impressive by virtue of the scale of the Vallée des Saints project, are mere tiddlers in the league table of tall sculptures. Europe’s tallest sculptures are in the former Soviet Union. When it was completed in 1967, the Motherland Calling sculpture on a hill overlooking the Russian city of Volgograd was the highest figure in the world — as measured to the tip of the sword held aloft by Mother Russia.

Related article

So where is Mukaceve

Ruthenia and the Rusyn language scarcely figure in our mental maps of Europe. But Rusyn life & culture are alive and well in the remote valleys of the Carpathians.

Related article

Overnight luxury

As we report in railscan, many overnight trains have been axed, but, especially within the CIS countries, there remain a few hidden gems. Ukraine is a good place to start.