This name was assigned to one of the most unusual sculptural images of the Savior of the world. The sculpture, installed in 1954, was not raised to a high monument, but, on the contrary, was lowered under the water of the San Fruttuoso Bay in the Tyrrhenian Sea to a depth of more than 17 meters! Needless to say, such an unusual location does not facilitate access for tourists! Be that as it may, over the years since its installation, the underwater memorial has been visited by more than two million people from all over the world.
A cult destination for scuba divers, freedivers, and underwater travel enthusiasts in every sense, San Fruttuoso Bay is located near Camogli (Genoa). The main attraction of the bay - a bronze sculpture of the Lord Jesus Christ with arms raised up - was installed under water in memory of all those who died at sea.
55 years under water is a long time; when summer comes and the water in the bay warms up well, divers from the La Spezia police unit descend to the sculpture to carefully clean it of algae and everything else that it has managed to cover over the past year. When diving, police divers are often accompanied by dolphins, as if they understand how important the work that lies ahead is.
The two and a half meter figure of Christ, raising his hands to the sky, is one of the most photographed underwater objects in the world. Actually, it is because of her that the secluded abbey at a secluded bay becomes one of the busiest places on the entire coast of the Lirurian Riviera in summer. After all, it is from here that it is most convenient to get by water to the famous statue on the seabed.
By water - because you cannot get here directly by public land transport: after traveling by train to Camogli, Portofino or Santa Margherita Ligure, you will have a rather long hike to San Fruttuoso along one of the developed tourist routes, which are safe, but require endurance and some physical fitness.
For this reason, many who wish to see the famous statue arrive in San Fruttuoso by boat. In front of the local abbey there is a small and cozy sandy beach with a gentle slope into the water, which is considered one of the best swimming spots on the Ligurian coast. The water here is very clean, which, in fact, was one of the reasons why they decided to place the statue under the water right here. It is not at all necessary to dive to it: in good, calm weather, the sculpture of Christ is perfectly visible from the surface of the water. In summer, many people come here on boats, yachts, tourist boats to see the underwater monument with their own eyes.
It is not surprising that the very idea of 'Christ from the Abyss', in Italian - Il Cristo degli Abissi, the first came to the mind of the diver Duilio Marcante, who loved to indulge in thought while under water. Marcanti was a deeply religious person - in addition, he decided that by installing such a sculpture it would be good to perpetuate the memory of Dario Gonzatti, also a diver who found death under water in 1947 ... The sculptor Guido Galletti helped to bring this good intention to life - of course, also Italian. He portrayed the Lord with his face and hands raised upward. If you look at the statue from the surface of the water, it seems to rush upwards - and it is with its dynamics that it makes a grandiose impression.
For more than half a century under water, the statue was seriously damaged once. An unsuccessfully cast anchor caused the loss of one of their hands of Christ. The sculpture had to be lifted out of the water and restored. While this work continued on the ground, a new pedestal was erected for the statue under the water. On July 17, 2004, the repaired statue was hoisted on top of it.
