The sculptural park VÍA CHRISTI are 23 stations, relief plaques and a mega light Christ emerging from the top of the mountain.
Located in the hill of the Cross in the city of Junín de los Andes, province of Neuquén, Argentina, this Vía Christi theme park (Christ's way), represents the life of Jesus Christ and other cultures such as the Mapuche along 2 kms of pedestrian route.
JUNÍN DE LOS ANDES
HILL OF THE CROSS
LIGHT CHRIST:
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The park was created by the architect Alejandro Santana, together with community workers.
The interesting thing about this work is, as in the sanctuary, the manifestation of the Christian and the Mapuche in an intertwined way. The sculptures have faces that adopt features of the original peoples of the area, these sculptural groups being accompanied by plates in relief that make a parallel between the life of Christ, the Church, Ceferino Namuncurá ("stone with foot shape") and Laura Vicuña and the history of the American aboriginal peoples.
ALEJANDRO SANTANA:
Each stop is a dry square of 12 meters in diameter, imitating the sun (an important symbol in almost all cultures of the world). In it there are decorative figures built by hand, imitating images of pre-Columbian cultures of Argentine soil. The main figures are originally sculpted in clay. Then they move to a plaster model, which produces a negative of it. This mold, once dry, is carefully cut and reassembled at the final site, filling it with concrete. Once firm, the plaster mold breaks and the details are polished.
The Via Christi is a different way of meditating and remembering the steps of Jesus in his life as a man and as God on earth, a meditation that reveals with touching power the crucial instances of his passage through this world, his passion, death, resurrection and glory with the father.
STATION 1: JESUS: GOD MADE MAN TO SAVE US
his is the first station and is the key to understanding this immense work of this sculptural park. In this manger are Joseph and Mary holding Jesus, in the company of the three magicians who together admire Jesus made man.
STATION 2: JESUS IS BAPTIZED BY JOHN
John the Baptist in this work is represented by Father Matthew, (who helped the indigenous communities) sprouting the spirituality of the heart in the form of water.
The water of baptism is clean, renews, gives life, and in turn expands more and more forming those aureoles (as when throwing a foot into the water). In each halo there are names, so the footprint of Jesus expands in all people. The names represent each one of us.
STATION 3: JESUS AND THE TEMPTATIONS
It is not easy to represent the devil, it can not be something horrible, but it would not tempt us. He never shows his face, he is the father of deceit and lies.
With the different masks, in a way it tempts people. With a person mix and snake tail it is wrapping Jesus.
Every day we are tempted, it is the continuous struggle between good and evil.
In the masks that the devil has are the faces of George W. Bush Son (he had gone to war in the Middle East), Hitler, Stalin, Father Von Wernich, an Argentine priest who helped in the military dictatorship to disappear people, is also Alejandro Santana (creator of Via Christi) and a mirror, so that everyone can see themselves reflected.
STATION 4: JESUS AND THE BLESSEDNESSES
"Blessed are you when they curse you, persecute you, and raise all kinds of slanders for you, rejoice and be happy, because the reward you receive in heaven will be great." Well, you know that this is how they treated the prophets before you. " Matthew 5, 1-12
We met with San Francisco de Asis (blessed the poor), the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (blessed those who mourn), Father Milanesio, one of the first missionaries who came to Junín de los Andes (blessed the patients), the Mother Teresa of Calcutta (blessed are the merciful), Laura Vicuña (blessed those of pure heart), Mahatma Gandhi (blessed are those who work for peace), Martin Luther King (blessed are those who work for justice), Father Carlos Mujica ( blessed are those who are persecuted)
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STATION 5: LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME
"Some people presented their children to Jesus so that he would touch them: and the disciples rebuked the people. Jesus, seeing this, was outraged and told them: Let the children come to me. " Why are they prevented? The kingdom of God is for those who look like children and I assure you that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child will not enter it. Jesus embraced them and then put their hands on them to bless them. " Mark 10,13-22
STATION 6: THE GENEROUS SON
"We can take a turn but someday we will all get to the Father". Luke 15: 11-24
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STATION 7: THE OUR FATHER
In the center is a seven-pointed star, seven is a number that is named in various parts of the gospel.
We are all children of the "Our Father", in the station the different cultures are united with their beliefs, with the view to heaven, Christians, Mapuche, Muslims, Jews, etc.
STATION 8: JESUS HEALS THE MAN WITH THE PARALYZED HAND
Inspired by the biblical text Mc 3, 1-6: "Jesus said to the man who had his hand paralyzed: 'Stand up and stand here in the middle'. And then he asked them: 'What is allowed to do on the Sabbath, good or evil? ...' Jesus looked over them, angry and saddened by his blindness. He said to the man: 'Hold out your hand'. The paralytic extended it and his hand was healed. As for the Pharisees, they hardly left, they went to see the supporters of Herod and sought with them the way to eliminate Jesus. "
In this season reference is made to the capitalist economic system, which many times to comply with the law of the free market leaves many people without work, so the question is, what is more important, man or the law?
The man who holds the book and who grabs the man with the pants is Domingo Cavallo, a former Argentine economy minister who made disasters in the country.
STATION 9: JESUS MULTIPLIES THE BREADS
STATION 10: JESUS WASHES THE FEET TO HIS FRIENDS
Inspired by the tradition of San Francisco in which the feet of the elderly and the weakest of the community are washed. In this case Jesus washes the feet of the Mapuche culture, represented in an old Mapuche woman, Doña Rosa Cañicul, a very important person in the community, so, the Mapuche culture that suffered so many affronts, Jesus takes care of them.
ME WITH ALEJANDRO SANTANA
STATION 11: JESUS PRAYS IN GETHSEMANE
STATION 12: THE BETRAYAL OF JUDAS, THE "I AM"
They come to look for Jesus in Gethsemane, and in the Gospel of John how when the soldiers go to look for him, he goes out to meet them and asks Who are they looking for? they respond "to Jesus" and he tells them I am and there the soldiers fall on their backs.
This station has a sociopolitical reading and is that just as they took Jesus to torture and kill him, the military dictatorships of Latin America also persecuted, disappeared, tortured and murdered many people (adults, youth and children), cutting the daisies of a generation.
That is why this season has the shape of a daisy, in which the name of Jesus "I Am" can be read in many ways
STATION 13: JESUS IS FLAGGED
"Then Pilate ordered that they take Jesus and beat him, then the soldiers wove a crown with thorns, put it on his head and hung a red cloak on his shoulders as the kings wear and they approached him and told him Long live the King of the Jews! And they slapped him. " John 19 1.3
STATION 14: JESUS LOADS WITH THE CROSS
They seized Jesus; He carried the cross on his back and went to a place called the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha "(John 19, 17)
The sculptor architect, Alejandro Santana, wanted to represent in this season how Jesus carries the hunger of the children of the world
STATION 15: JESUS IS DISPOSED OF HIS CLOTHES
Making an analogy of how the "conquerors" massacred the indigenous peoples
STATION 16: JESUS, MARY AND JOHN
STATION 17: JESUS DELIVERS HIS SPIRIT
STATION 17: JESUS DIES AND IS LOWERED FROM THE CROSS
Inspired by the biblical text Lc. 23, 50-53: "Having taken him down from the cross, he wrapped him in a sheet and placed him in a grave dug in the rock, where no one had yet been buried."
STATION 19: THE WHITE CROSS
This cross was built more than 50 years ago and people took ownership of the place to come to make a pilgrimage, to pray, to walk, etc. That's why when they wanted to carry out this project, this place was selected.
It is the empty cross, sign of the resurrection. At the base of this cross there is a circular plate that represents some symbols and enlarging the scale also arms an 8-pointed star with symbology; the choique ("ñandú") which is a sacred animal for the people of the place and the fish (the stroke), which was like a password of the first Christians to name Christ.
STATION 20: JESUS IS WITH MAGDALENA
Here begin the seasons of the scenes of the resurrection. It is very significant that Jesus appears before a woman, who at that time was denigrated, her testimony was not important. Mary Magdalene turns when she hears that Jesus calls her by her name and recognizes him there, and says "Rabonni!" which means "beloved teacher"
STATION 21: JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES OF EMAUS
"Jesus himself approached them and started to walk with them, but something prevented their eyes from recognizing him." He said, "What are you arguing about along the way?" They settled down and seemed very discouraged. Cleopas, he answered "How? Are you the only pilgrim in Jerusalem who is not aware of what has happened here these days? "" What happened? "He asked, and they replied" The whole matter of Jesus the Nazarene! ", Then he told them" Did not it have to be that way and that the messiah suffered to enter into his glory? "When he got near the town they were going to, he pretended he wanted to go on, but they insisted to him, saying," Stay with us, it's already late afternoon and the day ends. "He entered, then, to stay with them and while he was at the table he took the bread, pronounced the blessing, broke it and gave it to them, and at that moment they opened their eyes and recognized him, but he disappeared. They said to each other "Did we not feel our hearts burn when he spoke to us on the way and explained the scriptures to us?" (LC 24, 13:34)
STATION 22: JESUS SENDS TO HIS DISCIPLES
The disciples were gathered with the doors closed because they were afraid of what could happen to them. Jesus appears to them and gives them peace. Jesus tells us at all times "Do not be afraid". There are different gestures of the disciples who at first are locked in themselves and little by little as they find God they open up until they find him.
Jesus shows his wound, so that they may believe him, and this wound may serve later in another sculpture that is a giant hand that seems to be opening the earth, and from it water comes out, manifesting how the earth is the body of Christ.
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STATION 23: JESUS AND THE MIRACULOUS FISHING
STATION 24: CHRIST LIGHT
The Christ Light, which was inaugurated in 2017, consists of a work that expresses the figure of Jesus crossing the Earth, which symbolizes the divine presence in all nature, in its creation and in every moment. The sculpture is 36 meters long, 30 meters wide and seven meters high. It is made of iron and glass and houses a small chapel inside.
The path to the work has a length of 550 meters, in which 134 meters are ascending. For this there are zigzag ramps that allow to attenuate the slope and a staircase with breaks.
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PHOTO TAKEN WITH A 360 CAMERA
