There is a place in Florida where every year hundreds of people get married, or are ‘buried’, and it is not a church, nor a cemetery. This place in Florida is completely underwater. You wouldn’t expect it to be one of the most popular attractions in Florida, as visitors have to go underwater to see it. (The water is shallow enough that you can snorkel or scuba dive to see it.)
It is an 8½ foot bronze sculpture of Jesus Christ, Christ of the Abyss, found in 25 feet of water in the Florida Keys. It has been seen by millions since it was placed there on August 1. 25, 1965, making it one of the most popular underwater sites in the world.
With Christ’s arms outstretched toward the surface (or sky), the 4,000-pound statue sits on a 10-ton concrete slab in one of the world’s few underwater parks, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, about six miles east-northeast of Key Corte Largo. The statue’s pose is said to be a peace offering.
Even before it was dedicated, the statue was tested two weeks after it was placed (painfully) in the water, when Hurricane Betsy hit the Florida Keys. Passed the test; he stood his ground. John Pennekamp himself, a Miami newspaper editor who helped preserve the park named after him, helped dedicate the statue.
The statue is a copy of ‘Il Cristo Degli Abssi’, placed in the Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy, in 1954. The original was cast by artist Guido Galletti. There is another copy in Grenada in the Caribbean.
In 1961, not knowing where its final resting place would be, Italian diving entrepreneur Egidi Cressi commissioned the casting of Key Largo from the original mold and donated the result to the Underwater Society of America. It was created to celebrate the establishment of the world’s first underwater park.
The statue ended up in storage in Chicago, waiting for a home. Florida Senator Spessard Holland found out about it and helped get John Pennekamp Park chosen as his final resting place.
After time under water, bronze deteriorates, but that wasn’t what caused a hand to fall off in 2003, nor was it someone’s ashes. A misplaced anchor was to blame. Her counterpart in Italy had suffered the same fate before, for the same reason. (No, it was not vandalized by satanists, as some believe). In both cases, it took him over a year to replace the hands.
If you want to see the statue, but don’t scuba dive or even swim, you can see a bronze replica at St. Justins Martyr Catholic Church at Mile Marker 105.5 in Key Largo.
Or, if you want to get married or ‘buried’ in this Florida spot, there are business establishments in the Keys to help. If marriage is in your plans, you may have to wait in line. More than 200 weddings are held at the statue each year.
