Europe’s tallest monument to the Virgin Mary—55 meters high—has been dedicated in a small town in Poland, paid for by wealthy local residents.
The 40-meter statue on a 15-meter base dwarfs everything else in the village, which has a population of fewer than 200 residents. It’s even larger than Poland’s largest Jesus, which stands at 36 meters in the town of Świebodzin.
The main funder of the €23 million project is Roman Karkosik, one of Poland’s richest men who made his fortune in the automotive equipment industry and through stock trading. He is said to have been inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
