KEY LARGO, Fla. – A large bronze statue of Jesus Christ sits in one of Florida’s state parks.
The catch? You’ll have to search the seafloor to find it.
Florida’s state archives show that during the mid-1900s, the state was transforming into a hugely popular tourist destination — but that sparked a lot of concern about whether the tourist boom could impact Florida’s wildlife.
Many dug up conches, coral and other tropical fish to collect or sell in tourist shops, which harmed a lot of the coral reefs surrounding the state.
After researchers and conservationists voiced their concerns about the issue, state leaders sectioned off a parcel of seafloor near Key Largo, which ultimately became the “John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.”
Money was later donated to the Florida Park Service, which purchased land on Key Largo for a park headquarters. It finally opened to the public in 1963.
As the first undersea park in the country, the state park allows boat tours and snorkeling. But a fair ways off the coast, keen-eyed divers will find the mysterious statue of Jesus Christ standing in the depths.
The nearly 9-foot-tall statue is a casting of the original “Il Cristo Degli Abissi” — which translates to “Christ of the Abyss” — which was sculpted by Italian artist Guido Galletti in 1954 and placed underwater in Genoa near where Dario Gonzatti (the first Italian to use scuba gear) died.
This casting was commissioned by Italian sports diver Egidio Cressi, who donated the piece to the Underwater Society of America in 1961.
According to Florida Keys Historian Jerry Wilkinson, the statue was shipped to Chicago and later flown down to Orlando.
It was anchored to an approximately 20,000-pound platform and finally placed in Key Largo’s Dry Rocks reef (in the park’s boundaries), now its permanent home.
For more stories about Florida’s strange and storied history, click here.
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